An acute respiratory nurse specialist who established a comprehensive asthma service network and an utterly reliable, ‘can do’ healthcare assistant who makes a difference to our patients are the winners of August’s You Made a Difference awards.
Caroline Owen, trained at Addenbrooke’s in 1987 and worked in critical care nursing for a number of years before moving to respiratory medicine as an acute respiratory nurse in 2009.
She went on to lead the interstitial lung disease nursing service within the Trust, then the regional severe asthma service.
In her role leading the regional severe asthma service, Caroline quickly established a comprehensive network of 14 Trusts within the East of England supporting patients with severe asthma.
In April this year Caroline organised a large educational event which, along with quarterly network meetings, forms integral communication between the nursing and medical teams within the network.
Outside of work Caroline is a keen gardener and opened a garden this year in aid of Asthma UK, raising £1,960.
This is reflected in the winning nomination, extracts of which told us:
“Since Caroline's appointment to the severe asthma service, she has driven major changes to the care and assessment of local and regional patients with severe asthma.”
“She has streamlined clinics, ensured that data is appropriately collected, coordinates a large number of complex patients and drives their care forward. She is going above and beyond in ensuring that patients are moved on to novel asthma treatments, despite extreme pressures on waiting lists.”
“She ensures that those who need treatment most are prioritised. In addition, she plays a large regional role educating nurses, allied health professionals and doctors from other hospitals about asthma, and the role of the severe asthma service.”
“Despite the large workload she faces, she remains a supportive colleague to other nurses and a real pleasure to work with.”
Healthcare assistant, Jordan Rapaport, first worked for outpatients at CUH from 2002-2007.
After going to work in London at Kings College Hospital and later St Marys and University College Hospital, Jordan returned to Addenbrooke’s in September 2018.
Jordan is conscientious, utterly reliable and always willing to go the extra mile. He is very much a “can do” person who treats all patients and colleagues with respect and is a popular member of the team.
He is kind and courteous to all patients and is observant and organises clinics to ensure a safe environment for all who attend.
Jordan makes such a difference to patients which is evident from the very positive feedback the team receive for him on an almost daily basis!
This is reflected in the winning nomination, an extract of which told us:
“I would like to nominate Jordan for a 'You Made a Difference Award' because of the Safe, Kind and Excellent qualities he displays day in, day out as a healthcare assistant. A patient of mine needed some Fortisips (high energy, high protein drinks) to take home with her before her GP prescription was processed.”
“As the clinic was so busy I couldn't afford to go myself. Jordan overheard this and simply offered to go and fetch these supplements so that the patient wouldn't be kept waiting. They are kept well out of his way and would have taken a good chunk out of his busy morning.”
“It made a big difference to a patient and her husband who were already spending a lot of time in hospital. It also saved me a lot of time, and I really appreciated his help. I am frequently in clinic 12 and Jordan is consistently a welcoming, friendly and professional presence in clinic 12.”
“He can't help patients enough I believe he should be recognised for his hard-working and compassionate attitude.”