Close Button

Celebrating the best in nursing

Kathy Howard and Jan Chaseley

On Wednesday 26 October, nurses from up and down the country gathered at the dazzling Nursing Times Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

The Nursing Times Awards 2022

The awards bring together the best of the nursing community, shining a light on the brightest talents of the profession and recognising those who are truly making a difference. At the 2022 awards, there were winners across 25 categories including Rising Star, Team of the Year, Cancer Nursing, Nursing in Mental Health and Nurse of the Year.

Benenden Hospital's Kathy Howard nominated for Nurse of the Year

One of the those who was lucky enough to be shortlisted for Nurse of the Year, was our very own Continence Specialist Nurse, Kathy Howard. 

Kathy's achievements

Kathy has been a nurse for nearly 62 years, and during that time she has supported thousands of patients and their families over her extensive nursing career. She has shared her knowledge, skills and her passion for nursing with several generations of nurses in the hope of raising the focus of, and improving, continence care for all patients.

Her role as a Specialist Continence Nurse is varied and includes tasks such as patient follow ups after urology surgery and teaching patients on how to use their pelvic floor muscles. It is a role that Kathy is extremely passionate about and she looks forward to coming to work and making patients’ lives better.

Kathy has been part of a well-established specialist nurse led clinic at Benenden Hospital since 2013 and was a key member of the team receiving the hospital’s Clinical Excellence Award in 2015.

Kathy was joined at the Nursing Times Awards by her granddaughter Lily-Rose as well as her colleagues from the Continence Care Team. Competition was very stiff, and although Kathy did not take home the prestigious award for Nurse of the Year we are extremely proud of her and we know Kathy felt very humbled to be in the presence of other nursing colleagues and to have got to the shortlisting stage.

Benenden Hospital comments

Jane Abbott, Hospital Director said: “I am very proud of Kathy and pleased that she was shortlisted for this award. She is for us the very essence of what a nurse should be and encompasses all our values. She may not have taken home the award, but Kathy is very much a winner in our eyes.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to all those who were recognised at the awards and all the winners. The Nursing Times Awards are a way to recognise the efforts and skill of nursing staff up and down the country. Congratulations to you all.”

Careers at Benenden Hospital

We have a number of vacancies in our hospital, for more information on the roles currently available, visit our careers page.

Published on 01 November 2022