14/03/11
Nursing graduate in line for prestigious award
A single mother-of-three who left school at 16 is in line for a prestigious nursing award for inventing a life-saving aid for patients with mobility problems. Neomi Bennett, 39, developed her device for helping people at risk of deep vein thrombosis while she was a student with the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences.
Neomi, who has just completed a three-year diploma in nursing, is one of two finalists for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Fellows Student Nurse Award run by Nursing Standard magazine. The winner will be announced on 28 April at a dinner and award ceremony at The Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in central London.
Neomi, who is starting a new job at Trinity Hospice in south London in March, secured her nomination after writing about her invention, which consists of a slippery inner sock that helps users put on anti-embolism stockings. The stockings are very tight to help prevent blood clots known as emboli forming in the legs and travelling through the bloodstream to the lungs or brain, causing damage or even death. The stockings are frequently prescribed to bed-bound patients, post operative patients and those with reduced mobility.
“I came up with the idea while I was on a placement in the community and saw a patient and relative struggling to put on anti-embolism stockings”, Neomi explained. “Patients are often left to their own devices – one woman was so afraid to ask a nurse how to get the stockings on that she ended up using them as curtain ties. That seemed terrible because the stockings can be a life-saver.”
Neomi experimented with different materials to create a slippery inner sock that goes under the stocking and helps the patient slide the garment up their leg. She has applied for a patent on her device, created the trade name ‘Neoslip’, and is hoping the idea will be taken up by commercial manufacturers.
Neomi decided to train as a nurse after working for a computer company. “Leaving school without qualifications meant I wasn’t very confident academically so I had to take lots of small steps to become a registered nurse, but the Faculty has been really supportive,” she said. “It’s been a challenge but it’s been the best thing for me, and it’s inspired my children.”
Nursing lecturer Beattie Dray said that over the last three years she has seen Neomi blossom and grow into a professional nurse and role model: “Not only has she developed and produced a new product, but she is now beginning her nursing career, where she will make a positive difference to vulnerable people's lives every day.”
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