An aged care nurse who’s job it is to assist elderly patients to safely negotiate their move from hospital to their home has been announced as Nurse of the Year for 2020.
Deborah Jones, an aged care transition and liaison nurse at Rockingham General Hospital was presented with her award at the WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards (WANMEA), held on the weekend.
Thirteen exceptional Western Australian nurses and midwives from across public and private health and the education sector received awards across individual categories, with winners selected from a highly competitive field of 34 finalists.
“The WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards provide Western Australians with the opportunity to publicly acknowledge the approximately 38,000 nurses and midwives across the State working in private, public and non-government sectors,” Health Minister Roger Cook said.
“Each nurse and midwife has been nominated by colleagues or patients for making a significant difference to their professions and organisations, and to the health and wellbeing of the Western Australian community.”
Jones also won the category award for Excellence in Primary, Public and Community Care.
In recent times the passionate and committed nurse has been involved in a project that aims to achieve sustainable outcomes for older adults at risk of readmission to hospital.
She works closely with patients as they are discharged from hospital ensuring they transition safely from acute care to home.
Jones’ work has led to a decline in adverse outcomes and readmission to hospital with patients reporting improved understanding of their medical conditions and medications.
Two new Lifetime Achievement Honour Awards recipients – Professor Gavin Leslie and Professor Rhonda Marriott – were also announced.
The professors were honoured for the significant impact they had made to the nursing and midwifery professions on a local, national and international level.
The efforts of WA nurses deployed to Victoria to assist with the State’s COVID-19 response last year were also recognised at the awards event.
A full list of WANMEA winners can be found here.
