Patricia Wain is now Deputy Director of Nursing for South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Patricia was brought up in Dublin and Birmingham. She found her vocation through training as a general nurse and an early career in theatres at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. She is now Deputy Director of Nursing for South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Patricia took a 17 year career break to bring up her two children and manage the family farm. She then returned to the NHS and re-trained as a district nurse. Her practice in Tamworth was selected as one of three to pilot nurse prescribing - subsequently rolled out nationwide - and led to Patricia qualifying as one of the first Independent Nurse Prescribers.
She was also instrumental in developing physical healthcare programmes and infection control and responsible for a region wide programme to improve sexual health awareness among schoolchildren and young offenders.
Her professional expertise extends to general and heart surgery; Macmillan and Marie Curie nursing; genito-urinary medicine; HIV/AIDS; and district, ophthalmic and paediatric nursing.
Patricia is passionate about the education of nurses from all branches within the Trust and as a result she has forged excellent relationships with Staffordshire University.
Her academic research has focused on the sexual behaviour of HIV positive haemophiliacs and, as part of her PhD, HIV positive gay men.
Since 1984 Patricia’s many voluntary roles have included: Director of Tamworth Samaritans; President of Lichfield Soroptimists; and Lead Nurse for St John’s Ambulance (West Midlands).
This award is in recognition of Patricia’s unstinting support of registered and student nurse education, and for nurturing the close working relationship between the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. It further recognises her role in advancing nurse prescribing, her work improving the health of the community and her services to nursing including specialisms: cancer care; sexual health; and district nursing.