Limerick nurse is national healthcare hero

WHILE all healthcare workers have been heroes this year, one Limerick nurse has won a national prize for her efforts.

Rachael Buckley Brennan, who lives in Woodview, works as a psychiatric nurse in the Tearmann Ward at St Camillus’ Hospital, Shelbourne Road.

Her daughter Victoria, 20, nominated her for a Healthcare Heroes award in a competition organised by medical scrubs retailer Happythreads.

Rachael beat off competition from over 1,000 people to land a prize of skincare goodies from Oxmantown Skincare, a deluxe Irish food hamper from Ardkeen Quality Food Store and a voucher from Happythreads to spend on uniforms.

Rachael says she is sharing the prize among her colleagues in St Camillus’s, adding she is “humbled” to win it.

“We all deserve this attention. I've divided the prize up among my work colleagues. At the end of the day, we all work hard, and we've worked extra hard this year, with our patients not getting to see their family,” she said.

The win was bittersweet for Rachael, as she lost her sister Laura to Covid-19 in Spain earlier this year.

The nurse and her colleagues have worked hard over the past year to ensure elderly people at St Camillus’s do not lose touch with loved ones. They have created a hole in the gate to allow its residents to see relatives – at a safe distance – when weather allows.