Jennifer Rodgers, Chief Nurse for paediatrics and neonatal, Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow has been announced winner of Scottish Woman of the Year Awards 2019 for ‘Services to Medicine’.
Jennifer was recognised for her outstanding work in paediatric medicine at last night’s awards.
Jennifer started as a nursing student in 1993 and after becoming a qualified nurse in 1996 took up a Staff Nurse position in Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill), Glasgow. She gained further experience working in Australia and New Zealand, including nursing sick children in the Australian outback.
Combining experience with academic learning, she completed her MSc in 2009 winning the prestigious Barber Prize for continual high standards in academic work and clinical practise.
In 2012 Jennifer was the first paediatric nurse to complete the Scottish Patient Safety Fellowship, and in 2013 won the Scottish Nurse of the Year Award at the Scottish Health Awards.
Jennifer is an advocate of person centred and family integrated care and her original project asking children to draw or write ‘What matters to me’ posters became a key driving force and an integral part of the Scottish and International ‘What matters to you?’ movement.
Jennifer now provides professional leadership to over a thousand registered nurses and over three hundred nursing support staff within the Royal Hospital for Children, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Neonatal Unit, Royal Alexandra Hospital Neonatal Unit and The Princess Royal Neonatal Unit.
Jane Grant, Chief Executive, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “I am absolutely delighted for Jen. This was really well deserved and she is a great role model for us all.”
Jennifer said: “I am humbled to be have been chosen as Scottish Woman of the Year 2019 for ‘Services to Medicine’.
“It’s a privilege to come to work every day and to work alongside so many inspirational people who make such a difference to the lives of the tiniest of babies, children, young people and their families. It’s an honour to play my part and to be recognised in this way.”
The RHC is Scotland’s largest children’s hospital, a state of the art facility and the sole provider of many national paediatric services including cardiac surgery, cleft surgery, renal and bone marrow transplant.