A dedicated nurse is in the running for a prestigious award for spearheading a campaign to reach a ‘gold standard’ at a care home.
Colleagues say Terri Broderick, 28, who deputy manager at Highfield care home, in Wrexham, has great leadership skills.
As a result she has been shortlisted for the Nurse of the Year award, sponsored by Tena Products, at the Wales Care Awards.
The glittering ‘Oscar style’ awards night for the care sector in Wales, is run by Care Forum Wales, and is on Friday October 18, City Hall, Cardiff.
Not only is Terri going for gold at the Wales Care Awards. She is at the vanguard of a crusade by Highfield, which is part of the Pendine Park care organisation, to become accredited under the Gold Standards Framework.
The Gold Standards Framework is a training programme for care homes that was developed in England in Primary care for GPs and District Nursing teams.
It has been shown to greatly benefit patients, families and staff by improving the organisation and quality care provided.
The aim is to promote quality of life for care home residents from the day they arrive to the end of their lives.
Terri said: “If Highfield attains this gold standard, it’ll be the first care home to do so in Wales. Once we’ve been accredited, the programme will be rolled out across all of the Pendine Park sites.
“A lot of the programme is about sharing information, so we have things like regular team meetings to make sure everyone knows what’s going on. We also regularly update care plans so that people know is a resident’s condition changes.
“I’m currently putting together a portfolio of work to send off for the accreditation.
Terri is passionate about implementing the Gold Standards Framework.
Delighted Terri said: “I feel quite humbled really. It makes all of the hard work worth it. I’ve always wanted to care for people.
“I’m very happy at Pendine Park and I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.”
Mum-of-one Terri started at Pendine Park at the age of 18 after studying at Yale College.
She is motivated to improve care for residents, especially stopping unnecessary hospital admissions.
She said: “The residents see Pendine Park as their home. Being in a hospital can be very alien to them.
“The residents’ families can come and go whenever they want. The nurses and the care practitioners here are well trained and highly qualified.”
Terri is also studying modules in clinical care at Glyndwr University.
She added: “Staff need to keep ahead of the game.”
Manager at Pendine Park Care Organisation, Tracey Smith said: “Very quickly it became obvious that she is an excellent nurse, despite being newly qualified.
“We are currently working our way towards Gold Standards Framework accreditation and Terri is heavily involved in this and has been responsible for coordinating meetings with the relevant surgeries.
“She has been working in collaboration with one of our Senior Care practitioners to produce an easy to read booklet for the staff regarding the Gold Standard Framework.
“Terri shows exceptional skills in leadership and she is proactive.
“During a 9 month absence for maternity leave Terri began working towards her degree and completed the nursing module on Transforming Care, showing her commitment to developing herself and in March this year completed the module in Leadership and Management.”
“On returning to work Terri has continued to look at ways to improve the care.
“Terri has the respect of all staff, including nurses who have been qualified for many years.
“She leads by example and staff and residents know if she says she will do something it will be done.”
Mario Kreft MBE, the Chair of Care Forum Wales, said the Wales Care Awards had gone from strength to strength.
He said: “The event is now firmly established as one of the highlights in the Welsh social care calendar.
“The aim is to recognise the unstinting and often remarkable dedication of our unsung heroes and heroines across Wales.
“The care sector is full of wonderful people because it’s not just a job it’s a vocation – these are the people who really do have the X Factor.
“If you don’t recognise the people who do the caring you will never provide the standards that people need and never recognise the value of the people who need the care in society.
“We need to do all we can to raise the profile of the care sector workforce – they deserve to be lauded and applauded.
“It is a pleasure to honour the contribution of all the finalists. Each and every one of them should be very proud of their achievement.”
