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 the evalu-ation of project applications, the Main Board of the PNA appointed a Competition Committee, which included people with the status of professional authorities and representing institutions cooperating with the PNA. The Committee in-cluded: Greta Kanownik RN, PhD – Director of the Department of Nurses and Midwives in the Ministry of Health; Zo-fia Małas RN, MSc – President of the Main Chamber of Nurses and Midwives; Krystyna Ptok RN, MSc – Chairperson of the National Trade Union of Nurses and Midwives; Beata Pięta RN, PhD – President of the Main Board of the Polish Society of Midwives; Grażyna Wójcik RN, PhD – President of the Main Board of the Polish Nurses Association; An-drzej Tytuła RN, MSc – President of the District Chamber of Nurses and Midwives in Lublin; Dr Zbigniew Orzeł PhD – President of the Main Board of the Lublin Branch of the Association of Health Care Managers (STOMOZ); Paweł Witt RN, MSc – President of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Nurses; and Bożena Gorzkowicz RN, PhD – a member of the Main Board of the PNA – as a Chairperson of a Competition Committee responsible for proper conduct of an assessment.
The substantive evaluation of the application proceeded according to strictly defined criteria taking into ac-count: the innovation of a project in relation to already functioning solutions in nursing in Poland and in the world; focusing on EBNP; the importance of the project for nursing care recipients, involvement of external partners in the project, organisation and determinants of the implementation process, and evaluation of the project’s advancement.
In the final stage of the competition presentations of innovations made by the team leaders were presented. This stage of the competition was open to the public.
In the 14th edition of the Nurse of the Year 2018 Competition, 21 innovative projects were submitted. After a formal evaluation 17 projects were qualified to the final stages of the competition. The final assessment was made for projects submitted by the following PNA branches:
Projects representing the PNA branch in Krakow:
• Evaluation of the intensity of postoperative pain with the “three steps” method. Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Regional Department in Rabka-Zdrój. Team leader: Lucyna Tomaszek;
– Implementation of a perinatal care model in the care of mother and child with a lethal disability. Specialist Hospital L. Rydygier in Krakow. Team leader: Beata Nowak;
– ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) – a contemporary and comprehensive formula of peri- and postop-erative care for improving the results of treatment. University Hospital in Krakow. Team leader: Maria Wójcik;
– Measurement and assessment of the quality of nursing/midwifery services. Independent Public Health Care Centre in Brzesko. Team leaders: Agnieszka Krzyszkowska and Karolina Pysno;
– Innovative care of a chronic wound with the healing effect. Independent Public Health Care Centre in Brzes-ko. Team leaders: Dorota Zych and Agata Paprocka;
– Modern long-term nursing care for patients after bariatric procedures. University Hospital in Krakow. Team leader: Ilona Kawa.
• Project representing the PNA Branch in Warsaw:
– Lead Nurse Model. Hospital Magodent Private Limited Company in Warsaw. Team leader: Agnieszka Balas.
• Project representing the PNA Branch in Bydgoszcz:
– Patient Academy. University Hospital in Bydgoszcz. Team leader: Aldona Kubica.
• Projects representing the PNA Branch in Lublin:
– Education of patients treated with anticoagulation in the Cardiology Department. Independent Public Pro-vincial Hospital John Paul II in Zamość. Team leader: Jolanta Strzałka;
– Standard of nursing care for the patient in the early postoperative period, after surgical operation of remov-al of the bridge-cerebellal (cerebellopontine?) angle tumour with the use of intraoperative neuromonitoring. In-dependent Public Clinical Hospital No. 4 in Lublin. Team leaders: Katarzyna Podleśna-Kuzioła, Damian Droźdzal.
• Projects representing the PNA Branch in Wrocław:
– Program for the prevention of body injury associated with patients’ falls during hospitalisation. Provincial Specialist Hospital J. Gromkowski in Wroclaw. Team leader: Justyna Wójciga;
– School of counselling in illness and disability. University Clinical Hospital in Wroclaw. Team leaders: Małgorzata Gdesz, Małgorzata Międzybrodzka, Izabella Czykieta, and Paulina Kolaska.
• Project representing the PNA Branch in Opole:
– Diabetes Education Room. University Clinical Hospital in Opole. Team leaders: Sybilla Fiech, Maria Grzeczna, Krystyna Gębuś.
• Project representing the PNA Branch in Olsztyn:
– Diabetics Academy. The Family Doctor’s Office in Olecko. Team leader: Alicja Nowak;
– The model of integrated patient care with an urgent deterioration of health in the hospital. Provincial Spe-cialist Hospital in Olsztyn. Team leader: Maria Kowalska.
• Project representing the PNA Branch in Gdańsk:
– An internal department for pain. Navy Hospital in Gdansk. Team leader: Joanna Płóciennik.
• Project representing the PNA Branch in Poznań:
– Proposition of solutions based on facts – ensuring the highest level of safety for a patient subjected to ECMO therapy during the qualification process, of transportation and hospital stay destination. Individual Nursing Prac-tice in Swarzędz. Team leader: Konrad Baumgart.
The results were announced on May 10th 2019 at the University of Medical Sciences in Lublin during the Com-petition Gala honoured with the presence of Mrs. Józefa Szczurek-Żelazko – Secretary of State of the Ministry of Health, Mr. Przemysław Czarnek – Voivode of Lublin, Mr. Jaroslaw Stawiarski – Marshal of the Lublin Province, au-thorities of the Medical University in Lublin, and many other distinguished guests.
After summarising the three stages of the competition, the following winners were selected:
The first place and the title of the Nurse of the Year 2018 was won by Ms. Beata Nowak with a team represent-ing the PNA Department in Krakow and the Specialist Hospital. L. Rydygier in Krakow implementing the following in-novation with the team: Implementation of a perinatal care model in the care of mother and child with a lethal disa-bility.
The second place was achieved by Mr. Konrad Baumgart with the team representing the PNA Branch in Poz-nań, representing the Individual Nursing Practice in Swarzędz. The subject of innovation was: Proposition of solutions based on facts – ensuring the highest level of safety for a patient subjected to ECMO therapy during the qualification process, of transportation and hospital stay destination.
The third place went to Ms. Małgorzata Gdesz with a team representative of the PNA Branch in Wroclaw, em-ployed at the University Clinical Hospital in Wroclaw, leading The School of Coping with Illness and Disability.
The Special Prize of the President of the Main Board of the Polish Nursing Association was awarded to Alicja Nowik with a team representative of the PNA Branch in Olsztyn, employed in the Family Doctor’s Office in Olecko, running The Diabetics Academy.
The organisational aspects and the accompanying atmosphere received very high scores from guests and par-ticipants during the evaluation of the competition. The Chairwoman of the Organising Committee of the Competition, Dorota Flis RN, MSc, a Head Nurse in the Independent Public Clinical Hospital No. 4 in Lublin, was responsible for the entirety of preparations. In accordance with the initial assumptions, revised new convention of the competition, al-lowed the presentation of a wide range of activities of nursing teams, which have accomplished their activities at a very high level for the broadly understood good of the patient.
We would like to congratulate all participants of the competition and invite you to share your activities in the coming years.

Chairperson of the Competition Jury,
Bożena Gorzkowicz RN, PhD
Chairperson of the Organising Committee,
Dorota Flis RN, MSc