Chirk nurse nominated for prestigious national award

A nurse at Chirk Community Hospital has been announced as a finalist for the prestigious Royal College of Nursing Wales Awards for her work with nursing students and their mentors.

Staff nurse Pamela Warne, along with her team of mentors, designed an innovative programme of teaching for nursing students which is patient centred and focuses on real cases that the nurses will see in hospitals.

She also works with her group of mentors to improve the student nurse experience and hosts a ‘Welcome Day’ that helps new students get over their nerves by introducing them to ward staff and patients and giving them an orientation tour.

As lead mentor at Chirk Community Hospital over the last eight years, she has managed her team of hospital mentors with ‘passion’ for training the nurses of the future.

She said, “When I first qualified as a student nurse I found it really difficult to relate theory to practice.

“I think all training should relate directly to patient care as I thought that it was difficult for nurses to relate what they learn in theory to actual patient cases.

“In our teaching we focus on specific patients we have got on the ward so the students can relate their academic learning to the actual patients that we have.

Pamela also spoke of the importance of getting the basics of nursing right, explaining: “I’ve always been interested in mentoring, it’s something I feel really passionate about.

“If we provide student nurses with a good experience then we produce good nurses for the future.

“What we provide here is good, basic nursing care and once you’ve cracked the basics you can go on in your career to do whatever you want.

“Good nursing is about good communication with people and seeing the bigger picture.
“I love my job and I want people to feel as passionate about nursing as I do. We need to instill passion in the nurses of the future too.

“It’s so amazing working in Chirk, we are like a family here we really are. The team are fantastic”.

Commenting on Pamela’s work, Grace Montgomery, first year Bangor nursing student said: “She’s really good, she teaches you what to do, why you’re doing it and what to look for with patients.

“It’s so good in Chirk, everyone is really friendly and welcoming. Pam’s induction day was brilliant, we got shown around, went through all the basics and so it was less daunting when we actually started our placement.”

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board nurse Pamela will travel down to Cardiff with her nominator Ward Manager Victoria Sheffield for the ceremony this week to find out if she has won the award.