The Nurse of the Year Competition 2018 XIV edition
Innovations of the year 2018 in the field of improving the quality of nursing care

The Nurse of the Year Competition has been organised by the Main Board of the Polish Nursing Association (PNA) and the Nursing Leaders’ Association since 2005. In its original premise it was a continuation of the Nursing Olympics under the name “Golden Nursing Cap”. The patronage of the Nurse of the Year competition is annually provided by the Minister of Health and the President of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives, as well as key PNA partners in the field of healthcare.
This year, after evaluating previous editions, and in response to the changing situation in health care, numerous new challenges, as well as new opportunities for nurses and midwives, the Main Board of the Polish Nursing Association introduced a change in the formula of the competition, moving away from evaluation of individual candidates for the purpose of introducing the assessment of nursing team achievements that have a direct impact on the quality of nurs-ing and also on the health situation of patients. The overriding goal of the competition was to select innovations im-plemented in 2018 in the area of nursing practice or organisation of the work of nursing teams that improve the quality of health services and patient safety.
New, innovative solutions are those that have not previously existed in the unit and have been implemented by the ideas, initiative, and commitment of the nursing team. These ideas should be characterised by originality, with full copyright permission for the concept and implemented solutions. Furthermore, the implemented solutions should be supported by evidence-based nursing practice (EBNP). Submitted innovations should be more effective than previous solutions and be verified by research or analytical methods.
The competition is nationwide and is addressed to nurses employed in all types of medical entities or those who work within individual professional practice. The application forms should have a positive recommendation from the director of the therapeutic unit in which the innovation was implemented, or from a person authorised to represent the economic entity in the case of civil partnerships.
The competition proceeded according to a strict schedule: from several months of promoting the contest by a three-step assessment of the applications, made by the Competition Committee. In order to guarantee the highest possible ethical and substantive level at all stages of the competition and to provide objective conditions for...


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