A care home nurse from Bargoed described as an “exceptional team member” has been shortlisted for a national award.
Karen Wilcox George, community manager at Greenhill Manor care home in Pentrebach, has been nominated by colleagues and residents for the Excellence in Palliative and End of Life Care Award category at the Wales Care Awards.
Karen, who runs a 20-bed dementia unit, has been hailed for ensuring people nearing the ends of their lives are looked after in a dignified manner, with colleagues describing her as “an exceptional team member who exceeds all standards of care on a daily basis.”
Lian Pearsall, hospitality services manager at the care home, said : “She has exceptional relationships with relatives and residents alike. Karen always treats others as if they are her own family.
“She assists and inspires the care team. She always goes up and beyond the call of duty demanding a high standard of excellence in her own practice as well as others.”
Karen, a grandmother, mother to eight sons, and animal lover who can count 15 snakes, five dogs, 250 rats, and two cats among her pets, became a care assistant in her mid-20s before taking her nursing entrance exam and moving into the private care sector in Merseyside.
She said: “I love my work. It’s making sure there is the best possible experience for everybody. People deserve compassion and dignity.
“We provide support for residents and their families. We get to know the ins and outs of lives. When people put someone in a home they can have mixed emotions, relief and guilt.
“It’s an honour. I’m looking forward to the night.”
The annual Wales Care Awards awards are now in their 15th year and showcase the best practice across a vital sector.
Winners will be announced at City Hall in Cardiff on Friday, November 17 at a presentation evening hosted by tenor and BBC Radio Wales presenter, Wynne Evans.
Another carer, Melanie Walters from Penygraig, has been nominated for the Supported Living Care Practitioner award.
Melanie, 46, works for Radis Community Care in Caerphilly, and said: “I was overwhelmed to even be nominated for the award and when I heard I’d been shortlisted in my category I couldn’t believe it.”
Mario Kreft MBE, the chairman of Care Forum Wales, claimed the awards ceremony had gone from strength to strength.
He said: “The event is now firmly established as one of the highlights in the Welsh social care calendar.
“The aim is to recognise the unstinting and often remarkable dedication of our unsung heroes and heroines across Wales.
“The care sector is full of wonderful people because it’s not just a job it’s a vocation – these are the people who really do have the X Factor.
“If you don’t recognise the people who do the caring you will never provide the standards that people need and never recognise the value of the people who need the care in society.
“We need to do all we can to raise the profile of the care sector workforce – they deserve to be lauded and applauded.
“It is a pleasure to honour the contribution of all the finalists. Each and every one of them should be very proud of their achievement.”