A CHILDREN's nurse from Gobowen's orthopaedic hospital has received a prestigious nursing award.

Specialist spinal nurse, Ann Bishop, based at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH), has received the Silver Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) Award after being nominated by the senior nursing team, in recognition for the work she has done to support paediatric spinal patients and their families.

Ann – who is the first children's nurse in the country to receive the coveted award which is given to nurses or midwives – is overjoyed with the news and states that it is the highlight of her nursing career.

She said: "I'm overjoyed and honoured to have received this award.

"I'm extremely lucky to work with a wonderful and dedicated team of people who all want to support our paediatric patients and their families as much as possible.

"Receiving this really is a highlight of my nursing career and it feels absolutely amazing to have such meaningful recognition and an amazing accolade from the chief nursing officer.

"I feel extremely proud and privileged to be a nurse."

Sarah Bloomfield, interim director of nursing, said: "Ann is a fantastic nurse who lives our Trust values every day.

"She consistently goes above and beyond what her role entails to deliver a high quality and innovative service for our patients with spinal disorders.

"We nominated Ann because of all the work she’s done around supporting our paediatric patients, and their families, who are undergoing complex scoliosis surgery – a procedure which involves correcting a curve in the spine.

"I know I speak on behalf of the whole senior nursing team here at RJAH when I say I am extremely proud of Ann and she is a very worthy recipient of this award."

Hilary Garratt, deputy chief nursing officer for England at NHS England and NHS Improvement, who presented Ann with her award, said: "I was delighted to present Ann with a Silver CNO Award – the whole purpose of this scheme is to recognise our nurses who stand out and the work she has been doing definitely stood out to me."