Two Sirona nurses who have pioneered a service helping pregnant women with extreme sickness have won a prestigious national award for nursing in the community.
IV Therapy nurses Emma Moxham and Kim Bushill have developed the service for Sirona to help women diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) and their work has been recognised as the best community service in the country.
The condition hit the headlines when the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to hospital in the early stages of her pregnancy with Prince George and again with her second pregnancy recently.
Until Emma and Kim introduced the service giving intravenous fluids at home, the rare illness during pregnancy led to women being frequently admitted to hospital as they dehydrated.
The pair, who work across Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire for Sirona, a not-for-profit social enterprise, were named winners of the Nursing in the Community award, part of the Nursing Times Awards with judges describing it as an ‘innovative service that is nationally replicable and came from a can do attitude’.
More than 700 entries were received for the awards with the winners revealed at a glittering award ceremony in London..
Emma said: “It was an amazing night and not for one minute did we think we would win – there were so many big teams there; it means so much to have won, for us and for the women we care for now and have cared for in recent years.”
Kim added: “We were shocked, really excited and really happy that our work has been recognised nationally. It is also going to raise the profile for all women out there with HG.”
Jenny Theed, Director of Operations for Sirona, said: “They have done phenomenally well to win and I am so proud of them. This is a leading edge service which we hope other parts of the country will want to develop because of the benefits to pregnant women.”
