Nurse and Housekeeper who give up time to brighten lives of care home residents win national awards
A dedicated Nurse and a Housekeeper who each give up their own time to brighten the lives of residents in care homes where they work have been recognised with national awards.
Laura Smith, a nurse and clinical lead at Hamilton House Care Home in Buckingham, has been chosen as “Care Registered Nurse 2018” in the National Care Awards. Elaine Norman, Housekeeper at Hungerford Care Home in Hungerford Newtown, has been chosen as “'Care Housekeeper 2018.” Both homes are run by national care provider brighterkind.
Laura Smith, as clinical lead, ensures residents at Hamilton House receive high quality health and personal care to meet their needs. Beyond that she makes time to join with them in activities or take part in events. She provides personal touches, such as doing ladies’ hair, make up and nails.
She makes herself available at any time when residents need her. Recently when a lady became distressed during the night, Laura drove to the home to sit with her and comfort her until she felt at ease again. In the winter when heavy snowfall made it difficult for staff to get into the home, she stayed for 55 hours at a time to ensure the residents’ care, not once but on several occasions.
Elaine Norman manages the domestic team and laundry service at Hungerford Care Home, ensuring they operate to hotel standards to maintain a clean and pleasant environment.
Beyond that she goes into the home on her days off to support residents in activities and events. On many occasions when someone has needed to be escorted to a hospital appointment or on an outing, she has volunteered.
Elaine is at work at 5am with members of her team to ensure the home is welcoming when it opens its doors for the day. She is always looking for touches to make the home nicer for residents. She noticed that the corridor and lounge carpets couldn’t be properly washed during the day without causing inconvenience to residents, so now she and her team work one night a week to ensure the carpets get a deep clean. She finishes her shift and then returns at midnight to wash the carpets.
The National Care Awards is organised by Caring Times magazine.
