Protecting patients through surveillance of device-related bacteraemias

On a cold and dreary day early in March, one of those days where nothing seems to be going quite right, I started to receive messages from my fantastic compatriots in the Infection Prevention Society (IPS) IV Forum suggesting that I was hiding something. Feeling totally confused, they revealed to me that I had been shortlisted for the Vascular Access Nurse of the Year Award – I was and remain totally amazed as I had no idea that they had nominated me. I am immensely honoured to receive this award, but feel it is vital to make it clear that this would not have been possible without the support of my colleagues, who continue to work with me both on the development of a vascular access bacteraemia surveillance tool, for which I was nominated, and within my working role in the IV Team and Infection Prevention Team at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.