MAIREAD O’Donoghue, a registered advanced nurse practitioner at St John’s Hospital in Limerick City and Niamh Keane, the clinical lead of Health and Wellbeing HSE at Mid West Ennis Hospital have both received two out of 12 prizes awarded nationally for innovative solutions to healthcare challenges.
The Mid West women were recognised at the recent HSE Spark Summit, held in Dublin.
Mairead O’Donoghue received the Best Digital Project award for her project ‘InjuryNet – Transforming Patient Care through Digital Innovation’, which saw the injury unit at St John’s Hospital successfully transition from handwritten notes to a bespoke, in-house digital clinical record system.
By eliminating paper-based processes, a statement from HSE Mid West explained, the team at St John’s Hospital reduced clinician fatigue, accelerated patient care, and improved discharge coding and reporting. The innovative initiative was implemented in the HSE Mid West health region.
Niamh Keane, of Mid West Ennis Hospital, received the Community Collaboration Award for her project, ‘Baby & Me – Baby Bonds & Beyond’.
The project offered accessible health information, promoting self-care and fostering maternal wellbeing, to deliver culturally sensitive, peer-led health support in Ballinacurra Weston.
The annual HSE Spark summit celebrates the creativity and ingenuity of frontline healthcare professionals across the country, bringing together international experts, policymakers, and local innovators to explore latest advancements in healthcare innovation.
The HSE Spark Award winners, the HSE said, show just some of the ways that using existing resources in different ways can massively improve processes and reduce pressure on healthcare professionals.
