Prestigious RCN Nursing Award for mental health researcher

A senior researcher from the School of Healthcare Sciences has been recognised at the 4^th Annual Royal College of Nursing Awards. The awards are open to all registered nurses, students, midwives and health care support workers in Wales and showcases the great amount of talent in the industry

Dr Ben Hannigan a researcher studying mental health systems at Cardiff University, picked up the RCN in Wales Research in Nursing Award 2015 at an awards dinner in Cardiff (19 November), attended by healthcare professionals across Wales.

The Awards are a fantastic opportunity to offer recognition for nurses who demonstrate excellence in practice. Healthcare professionals can be nominated by peers, patients and the general public in recognition of their dedication and skills. The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished nursing leaders.

On receiving the award Dr Ben Hannigan said: “I am delighted and more than a little taken aback to have won the RCN in Wales Research in Nursing Award for 2015. The award recognises the power of research to inform and improve nursing and health care practice and services, and I am particularly pleased to have been honoured in this way as a mental health nurse researcher. I work in an area which is vitally important, but also often overlooked, misunderstood and under-resourced. People living with mental health difficulties deserve better services, underpinned by proper investment in research to identify what helps.

“I place great value on working collaboratively, including with co-researchers with personal experience of mental ill-health. In the last ten years I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to lead and collaborate on funded projects investigating crisis resolution and home treatment teams, care planning and care coordination in community and hospital settings, risk for young people in mental health hospitals, and social networks and shared decision-making.”

Heather Waterman, Head of School for Healthcare Sciences at Cardiff University added: “This is a fantastic achievement for Dr Ben Hannigan and we are extremely proud and lucky to have such dedicated and talented employees at Cardiff. This award is testament to many years of hard work in the arena of mental health and on behalf of the whole School I congratulate Ben on this wonderful achievement.”