A staff nurse at Galway University Hospitals has been awarded a prestigious learning bursary.
Michelle McNamara received the honour from the Anna May Driscoll Foundation, an organisation set up to commemorate the pioneering work of the late Clare woman in leadership in the corporate and voluntary sectors.
The award was presented by Damien Dyar, Ms Driscoll’s partner, recently at a ceremony at the hospital.
Michelle McNamara was nominated for the award together with two of her colleagues, Anne O’Rourke and Tricia Casey.
Nominations were made based on the leadership exhibited by the candidates in their day-to-day work at Galway University Hospitals.
Nominees were interviewed to find out how they would use the award to build learning and leadership skills.
A spokesperson for the HSE West says the panel was delighted with the strong leadership skills shown by all the nominees, but ultimately thought Michelle Mc Namara would be able to make most use of the bursary to build her knowledge and skills.
Mary McHugh, the director of nursing and midwifery at Galway University Hospitals, says in the current economic climate it is very encouraging and morale boosting for the nursing staff at GUH to be the recipients of such a generous bursary.
“This is particularly so since its origin was based on appreciation for the delivery of an excellent standard of patient care.
“The standard of the applications was exceptional but unfortunately there could only be one successful candidate and Michelle McNamara is indeed a very worthy winner and sincere congratulations to her. The awarding of the learning bursary will be ongoing and I look forward to working with the Driscoll and Dyar families in the years ahead.”
The Anna May Driscoll Foundation was established by Emerge Education in memory of the Ballyvaughan former children’s nurse who developed breast cancer in 1998 and died at University Hospital Galway in 2007.
She was one of the founders of Emerge Education, an international management consultancy specialising in organisation development. The Foundation was set up to commemorate the work she pioneered in leadership in the corporate and voluntary sectors. The foundation is designed to offer bursaries for the continued development of nurses at Galway University Hospitals.
