We have some truly special midwiveswho go beyond the call of duty at Heart of Englland NHS Foundation Trust and to recognise their exceptional work, we will be presenting awards to individuals during our International Day of the Midwife celebrations on 5th May 2016.

Nominations are open to staff and patients. The award categories are:

Excellence in Midwifery:

• Teams
• Individuals

Care, Compassion and Kindness

HEFT Student Midwife of the Year

HEFT Student Midwifery Mentor of the year

Heft Maternity Support Worker / Nursery Nurse of the Year

HEFT Midwifery Leadership and Innovation

Please put forward those individuals that deserve to be recognised for their work via the nomination form: Nomination_midwivesday. Send completed forms to Tracey Nash at tracey.nash@heartofengland.nhs.uk or FAO Tracey Nash, Associate Head of Nursing & Midwifery, Princess of Wales Women’s Unit, Heartlands Hospital, B9 5SS.

Closing date: Friday 8th April.

The criterea for the awards are:

Excellence in Midwifery

Teams

This award is for the midwifery team (encompassing midwives, the medical team, maternity care support workers/nursery nurses, allied health professionals and others) that is able to demonstrate attributes of dynamism, commitment and enthusiasm, and high levels of excellent inter-professional team working. The team would be one that may have designed a unique way of working or model of care within a contemporary maternity service. The team would be one that consistently delivers high quality care to women, their babies and families.
When making a nomination please consider:

1. How the team have implemented initiatives across the organisation to involve staff in improving care?
2. How has the team demonstrated integrated, multi-disciplinary approaches to define and solve problems leading to service redesign and improvement?
3. Have they created a team environment that promotes communication, trust, cooperation and respect for differences?

Individual

This award will recognise an individual Midwife who has gone above and beyond the duty of care, demonstrating compassion, competence, excellent communication, courage and commitment, to ensure care is the best it can be. This midwife will have expertise, as well as clinical and technical knowledge to deliver effective care to our women based on the most current research and evidence. This midwife will also have excellent communication skills that have benefited staff and improved public confidence in our care. They will also be known to listens to feedback and complaints and uses this to develop transparency and improvements to care and or services.

When making a nomination please consider:

1. How this midwife consistently delivers excellent care through relationships based on empathy, respect and dignity.

2. How this Midwife has inspired others, by their professionalism and accountability to give care differently and improve the woman’s experience.

3. Are you aware of some positive feedback, either from a service user or member of the muliti -disciplinary team that recognises this individual ?

Care, Compassion and Kindness

This award will be given to any individual who has demonstrated that compassion and kindness is embedded within their care delivery. This award will give recognition to someone that always shows dignity and compassion, as well understand an individual’s needs. This person will be someone that always shows empathy and sensitivity, and provides support in a way that respects all people equally, and in particular recognises diversity and cultural differences amongst our women and their families.

This nominee will clearly demonstrate empathy and compassion toward those receiving care, and show an ability to relate to and interact with the women and their families in a way that encourages a positive and nurturing experience.

When making a nomination please consider:

1. What difference has the care that this person/s given, made to women and their families using the service ?

2. Think of examples that make this caregiver extraordinary.

3. Are you aware of some positive feedback from a service user which recognises this individual ?

HEFT Midwifery Leadership and Innovation

This award will give recognition to an individual or team who have demonstrated an exemplary forward-looking and innovative approach to provision of maternity services and a commitment to improving team working and staff motivation. The nomination should highlight how the team / individual has ensured staff are appropriately supported and valued. The nominee should also have the skills to lead, manage and motivate a team that is committed to offering excellent and compassionate care to all women. This award recognises ways midwives and midwifery teams seek to improve the quality of care provided to women and their families.
This award is for individuals or teams that have made an outstanding contribution to care or who have initiated projects which have a made a real difference to the lives of the women and their families within HEFT maternity.

When making a nomination please consider:

1. How has the nominee/s demonstrated leadership and innovation in their role?

2. What has their leadership achieved for midwives/women/families/students?

3. How has their leadership contributed to other areas of work to improve service provision and service development for the future ?

HEFT Maternity Support Worker or Nursery Nurse of the year

This award recognises the importance of the Maternity Support Worker (MSW) and Nursery Nurse (NN) in providing holistic care to women and their families. The award will be made to a MSW/NN or a team of MSWs/NNs who can demonstrate that the development of their role has supported women and their babies, and has led to improved practice and the freeing up of midwifery time.

When making a nomination please consider:

1. What makes this nominee an outstanding MSW/NN

2. How has their care contributed to excellent midwifery service provision?

3. How have they have shown excellence in their role by supporting midwives.

HEFT Student Midwife of the year

When making a nomination please consider:

This award seeks to recognize a student midwife, or a small group of midwifery students that has/have made an exceptional contribution to care whilst working at HEFT. Recipients of this award must have shown consistent and dedication within their role. This award is open to all student midwives and recognises the enthusiasm and willingness to question practice that students bring to midwifery and provide an excellent standard of care.
1. What makes this nominee an outstanding student?

2. How has their care contributed to excellent midwifery service provision?

3. How have they shown initiative to further their studies and experiences of midwifery?

HEFT Student Midwifery Mentor of the Year

When making a nomination please consider:

This award will be presented to an individual who has supported either a newly qualified midwife during the preceptorship period, a student midwife during her/his midwifery education programme or a Maternity Support Worker (MSW) / Nursery Nurse (NN) learner during preparation for her/his role. The mentor will be nominated by their student/learner and will have demonstrated outstanding clinical and supervision of practice skills, enabling the learner to have developed their practice or role with knowledge, practical competence, and confidence.
1. How the mentor uses interpersonal and communication skills that give the student comprehensive feedback and the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and develop.
2. How the mentor has provided emotional and practical support, offering students time for reflection as well as time to perfect required skills.
3. How the mentor has shown a positive attitude that inspires and enthuses student midwives.