THREE Gwent nurses will travel to London next week with a chance of lifting a prestigious national award.
Joy Jones, Dorothy Jeffrey and Natalie Rowles are in the running for the Nurse of the Year award run by the Nursing Standard magazine, acknowledged as the top such award in the UK.
The trio have made what Nursing Standard editor-in-chief Jean Gray calls a "particularly impressive" shortlist, and they are employed across the nursing spectrum.
They are also in with a chance of winning an award category.
Specialist eating disorders lead nurse Joy Jones, who is shortlisted in the mental health category, set up the UK's first nurse-led specialist service for patients with eating disorders.
She is based at Ty Bryn Young Person's Unit at St Cadoc's Hospital, Caerleon.
Dorothy Jeffrey, a nurse at St Catherine's Nursing Home, Newport, is in the managing malnutrition category.
She launched a snacks programme to improve the diet of underweight residents vulnerable to malnourishment.
Since it began, nutrition has improved, with calorie intake increased by 1,000 a week.
General health has been enhanced too, with residents sleeping and eating better.
Natalie Rowles, a healthcare assistant based at County Hospital, Griffithstown, provides a complex package of care for a young girl with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and learning difficulties.
She is shortlisted in the healthcare assistant of the year category.
The awards will be announced at a ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel next Monday.
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