Local nurse nominated for national Marie Curie award

Marie Morrissey will attend the awards which take place at the Foundling Museum, London on Tuesday, November 28. Marie has been working for Marie Curie since 2002 and originally started off as a ward sister but has always been based at the Belfast hospice.

Her role now is as day hospice manager and she has been heavily involved in the introduction of an electronic patient records system, known as EMIS (Egton Medical Information Systems) and ensuring a smooth roll out of the system across all clinical teams.

The nationwide awards, now in their fifth year, were set up with the generosity of The Peacock Charitable Trust and give Marie Curie a unique opportunity to showcase the excellent care and dedication demonstrated by staff across the charity. It celebrates both teams and individuals who are nominated by their colleagues for consistently showing commitment to delivering the best care to people living with a terminal illness and support for their family and friends, and for going the extra mile in their role.

Marie said: “I was really shocked and humbled when I found out I had been nominated. I’m just one part of the team and despite me being nominated I feel it is really a nomination for the whole team, all working together as without everyone, it wouldn’t be possible. I know the hospice manager, Miriam McKeown, is also delighted that someone from the Belfast hospice has been nominated for the award.

“In my job, I love the patient interaction and knowing that I’m making a difference by supporting people in the last days, weeks and months of their lives. Not everyone wants to die in a hospital or in a hospice so being able to help them remain in their homes, by providing support to patients and their families, is hugely important.”

Miriam McKeown, manager of the Marie Curie Hospice, Belfast said: “Marie has been instrumental in the introduction of the EMIS electronic care record to the hospice. Marie’s calm and knowledgeable ways gave the staff the security to ask questions no matter how obvious they felt they were.

“She has also continued in her role of day hospice manager and introduced improvements to the care and support we provide. The service runs five days per week with two off site and three in the Belfast Hospice. She has overcome many challenges in her transformation of the service and the attendance for the day hospice is slowly increasing and more referrals are coming in as a result.”

For more information about Marie Curie visit www.mariecurie.org.uk