Royal College of Nursing Fellowship Awarded to A&E Nurse

24 January 2005

A&E nurse Ann Luck has been made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing¹s Faculty of Emergency Nursing.

Ann has been a nurse for 18 years, starting her career at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital where she progressed to being a Sister and Emergency Nurse Practitioner.

She has been a Professional Development Nurse at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds for two years. The role combines her duties as a senior nurse with responsibility for developing the training of nurses in the Emergency Department.

A fellowship is granted to those whose nursing skills have been judged against a national set of standards. They test the nurse¹s clinical skills, knowledge and expertise. As part of their application, nurses have to submit a portfolio of evidence to an accreditation panel, which includes national leaders in Emergency Nursing.

Among Ann's many accomplishments has been her work to develop protocols and training around triage nurses seeing, treating and discharging patients with minor wounds and burns without referral to a Doctor. This will reduce waits in A&E and it is hoped that this initiative will be expanded with triage nurses being able to treat other injuries which do not require assistance from a Doctor or Nurse Practitioner.

Ann, who lives in Thompson, Norfolk, said: "I am delighted to have been awarded a fellowship from the Royal College of Nursing.

"Eight years ago the RCN's Emergency Care Association recognised the need to have a national standard for emergency care nurses in the UK. Any emergency care nurse can apply to be recognised either as an associate member, a member, or a fellow of the Faculty of Emergency Nursing, depending on their level of experience. The Faculty provides a professional development programme which has great benefits for nurses professionally as well as NHS Trusts and patients."