A team at the Crann Centre in Ovens has received a prestigious award at the British Journal of Nursing (BJN) awards, which were held in London recently.
The Crann Centre continence team was named continence nurse of the year for 2026 by the BJN.
The awards, which are open to nominations across Ireland and the UK, celebrate excellence in research and practice, while recognising outstanding achievements across the nursing community.
The continence team at Crann provides Ireland’s only nurse-led, community-based specialist continence clinic for children, adults, and families living with neurophysical disabilities, with a focus on neurogenic care.
The team also provides dedicated training courses for healthcare professionals including public health nurses and special needs assistants in schools, covering clean intermittent catheterisation, trans-anal irrigation training and disability awareness, with more than 450 professionals trained in the last five years.
Crann’s head of services, Eimear Daly, said the award’s recognition highlighted the team’s commitment to supporting client families, promoting best practice, and delivering high quality continence care.
“Huge congratulations to our incredible colleagues Caroline Buckley and Edel Hill — we are so proud,” she said.
“It also speaks to Crann’s dedication to providing a service to families living with neuro-physical disabilities ensuring that continence care is accessible, timely, and responsive to their needs.
“It also ensures that people do not face barriers that impact on their day-to-day lives and delivers improved health and wellbeing outcomes, increased participation and feelings of empowerment.”
The Crann Centre continues to see increasing demand, welcoming 234 additional families in 2025, a 37% growth on the previous year.
Crann’s story began in 2013 when its founder, Kate Jarvey, witnessed a high number of children with spina bifida who were poorly served in her local area of Cork.
This compelled her to attend hospital appointments and spend time with families to observe and listen to their experiences and challenges.
Since then, Crann has supported more than 900 families living with neurophysical disabilities across Cork and the wider Munster region.
Its innovative 2Generation model of care provides whole family support, recognising that disability impacts the fabric of the family.
Through six key service themes, supported by a dedicated client liaison team, each family receives coordinated, personalised wraparound care.
The BJN is the leading clinical nursing journal written by nurses for nurses from the UK and around the world.