Kingscourt super carer named Nurse of the Year
A nurse for almost 20 years, Louise was chosen from thousands of nominees by a panel of judges which included Make-a-Wish Ireland CEO Susan O’Dwyer after being nominated by her younger sister Mairead.
Louise said she was stunned when she got the call to say she had won.
“I was mortified if I’m honest,” said the 38-year-old, who works on Surgical 1 Ward in Cavan General. “I just do my job as best I can, so I’m delighted to be honoured with the award, but it could have gone to any one of my colleagues at any hospital around the country.”
Louise said being a nurse was more than a job to her. It was a way of life.
“You never switch off. You’re already planning your day before you get up,” she said. “You’re always aware and you know what you’ve to do – someone might be going for surgery that day or they might have been unwell the day before.
“You’re always thinking of them, even when you go home. I’ve often gone home and them come back in or will come in on a day off if I’m thinking about someone.
“It would never be a burden looking after someone in need. If I can be of help to someone at all I’m happy. So often it’s just the little things that are of real value to people.”
NUK Ireland’s Cliodna Gilroy said NUK was delighted to support such a worthy award.
“Congratulations to Louise. It’s some feat winning the award given all the fantastic nurses NUK’s advisors meet every day around the country. Nurses play such a vital role in our hospitals and it’s great to be able to help pay tribute to their fantastic work.”