Two nurses who are dedicated to improving the mental health of people in Lanarkshire have been honoured with a new national award.

Anne Rouse and Carol Thomson, both charge nurses in the ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) service, received the trophy as the first ever winners of the SEAN Nurse of the Year Award.

SEAN (Scottish Electroconvulsive Therapy Audit Network) is the accreditation body for ECT in Scotland and the award is for Anne and Carol’s outstanding contribution to improving care and treatment for patients.

The duo, who are based at both Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride and Wishaw General Hospital, were nominated by their line manager, Carol McInally, senior charge nurse on ward 19, one of the mental health wards at Hairmyres.

Anne said: “We’re delighted to have this recognition for the changes we’ve made since we both started in 2011.

“We’ve worked to improve the quality and standard of care patients receive, increase team-building and enhance the physical environment at both hospitals.

“That has helped us win SEAN quality improvement awards every year.”

Carol said it gives them great satisfaction to see a marked improvement in the health of many of the patients with severe depressive illness who receive ECT.

She said: “We are referred the most ill patients, often older people, and we see a significant improvement in the mental health of many of them.”

Anne and Carol also paid tribute to their ECT colleagues, who include consultant psychiatrists, anaesthetists, anaesthetic nurses and recovery nurses. 

ECT is given under a general anaesthetic as it involves a controlled electrical current being passed across the brain via electrodes. The current lasts around six seconds and causes a seizure, which has an effect on the part of the brain that controls mood, appetite and sleep.