WaterWipes have honoured an exceptional community care nurse in Claremorris with the prestigious Pure Foundation Fund and a monetary prize of €2,500 towards the Claremorris Primary Care Centre.
The Pure Foundation Fund, which launched in 2020, celebrates the achievements of neonatal nurses and midwives working with parents and babies in maternity, neonatal and community care and this year recognised the efforts of three outstanding women in Ireland, including local woman, Pauline O’Connor.
Pauline, a Public Health Nurse at Claremorris Primary Care Centre, was nominated by Laura McHugh for going above and beyond in her role.
Laura’s son had not slept a full night in his 11 months and the family were struggling. Having passed the timeline of care due, they had explored numerous alternative solutions, such as sleep consultants and homeopaths, with little success.
Pauline heard of the families’ plight and stepped in to support them. She offered information around ‘controlled crying’, gave both emotional support and educational materials and took time out from her own patients to check in on the family until a better sleeping routine was eventually found in just a few weeks. The family said in their nomination that they were "so grateful to Pauline".
Pauline commented on her win, saying: "I was so delighted to be nominated but also humbled, as I was just doing my job. Part of my job as a Public Health Nurse is to provide support, advice and guidance to parents and to be recognised for this is overwhelming. The generous prize from WaterWipes will hopefully be used to set up a breast-feeding support room in our Primary Care Centre."
