The world’s best nurse will this week be named at a ceremony in London, with nominees including the Abu Dhabi-based founder of a mentoring programme and a UK diabetes specialist who helps identify and treat rare types of the disease.
Ten finalists have been selected from more than 52,000 entries to compete for the Aster Guardian Global Nursing Award, which offers a $250,000 (Dh981,500) prize.
They include UAE-based Irish nurse Cathy Cribben-Pearse, who founded OakTree Mentoring, a programme for 200 nurses and midwives from around the world.
She said the award underscored how varied the profession is.
Ms Cribben-Pearse, who has lived in the UAE since 2014, left her job as a senior nurse for Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi to set up the company.
She told The National: “I am a nurse, a midwife and I am also an executive coach.
“During the pandemic I offered my services online and in the evenings during lockdown here. So I had a huge response and I was coaching healthcare professionals from all over the world.
“A trend started to emerge, that they didn’t know what coaching was. And they were looking to me for mentorship.
“That’s where the thought of OakTree Mentoring was planted.”
She works with nurses and midwives to match them with others that offer them support in their goal.
“That goal could be a career goal, it could be a personal goal, it could be a lifestyle goal,” she said.
“We help nurses and midwives because it is my bread and butter. Nursing is my DNA. I am a nurse and a midwife. We are a breed all unto ourselves. It’s my language.”
Fellow nominee Margaret Helen Shepherd, lead nurse for research at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, set up a national network of genetic diabetes nurses in the UK in 2002 to raise awareness of the little-known condition, monogenic diabetes.
It occurs due to changes in a single gene.
“Of the different types of diabetes we deal with, there are 33 different genes that can cause a different type of diabetes and need a different type of treatment,” she told The National.
One category is diabetes diagnosed within the first six months of life.
“We call that neonatal diabetes," she said. "A number of those patients ... are better managed without insulin and with a really old-fashioned tablet called Glibenclamide, which can actually improve the blood sugars and enable those people to make their own insulin.”
She said discovering patients' particular type of diabetes can change their lives. One of her patients was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a baby.
She was referred for a genetic test, which revealed that her diabetes resulted from a change in gene, which meant she was able to stop her insulin injections after 43 years.
“She was able to lose weight for the first time," Ms Shepherd said. "She had not managed to lose weight on insulin. She was able to get her heavy goods vehicle licence because she runs a family transport business and she had been banned from doing that when she was on insulin.
“So, in terms of making a difference that’s just one story. I have loads of stories like that. Just to be part of making that diagnosis and making her consultant aware through the teaching that we ran nationally, that has absolutely changed her life. And for me to be part of that is really humbling.”
Other nominees for the award include Christine Mawia Sammy, a nurse in Kenya who established the first newborn unit in Kitui county in 2010; and Shanti Teresa Lakra, a nurse based in India who has worked among Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The other finalists work in Panama, Ireland, Singapore, Tanzania and the Philippines.
In Panama, Gloria Ceballo developed an educational programme for nurses in a bone-marrow transplant unit, while in Ireland, Jincy Jerry was nominated for her work in cutting down on the potential for human error while collating results from laboratories.
In Singapore, Lilian Yew Siew Mee was nominated for her work in helping set up 14 vaccination centres during the pandemic, while Michael Joseph’s efforts in the Philippines to establish a telehealth programme for seniors earned him a place as a finalist.
Portuguese nominee Teresa Fraga set up a palliative care unit for children with chronic illnesses and in Tanzania, Wilson Gwessa Fungameza was selected for introducing the Improvised Bubble CPAP Device, which drastically reduced neonatal deaths from respiratory problems.
Dr Azad Moopen, founder, chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare in the UAE, said each of the nominees had made a “significant contribution to the field of nursing”.
He said: “Millions of nurses across the world are working hard every single day to serve their patients and form the core of the healthcare ecosystem.
“Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award is our way of acknowledging their dedication and recognising their work.
"This year, with more than 50,000 nurses vying for the coveted award, it has been a hard task for the eminent jury members to shortlist the top-10 outstanding nurses.
"Each of the finalists have a remarkable trajectory and have made significant contribution to the field of nursing. We wish each of them all the very best.”
Last year's prize was won by Anna Qabale Duba from Kenya for her work in helping to protect vulnerable women and children in Africa.
This year’s winner will be announced at a ceremony in central London on Friday, which is International Nurses Day.
