5 Tips for Writing a Great Quality Awards Nomination

It’s that time of year again – the nomination period for the 2019 Quality Awards is now open! Now in its 10^th year, our awards program celebrates and raises the profile of improvements to the quality of care in BC. The deadline to submit nominations is Sunday, July 15, 2018 – so start thinking about inspiring people and projects you’d like to nominate. Last year, we received 61 nominations. How can you make sure yours stands out? Here are our top tips:

1. Take advantage of the word counts! In each section of the nomination form, you’ll notice there’s a maximum word count. This is a good guideline for how much information we’re looking for. Presenting your information concisely is a good thing, but if a question’s maximum word count is 500 and you’ve only written a short paragraph, the judges will be looking for more detail on which to base their scores.
2. Get familiar with the BC Health Quality Matrix. Every category’s nomination form will ask you to describe how the nominee’s work addresses one or more of the seven dimensions of quality as defined by the BC Health Quality Matrix. The Matrix is the framework we use to define quality in health care. Read up on the Matrix’s definitions of each of these dimensions so you can address them specifically and accurately in your nomination.
3. Choose your category carefully. The four Excellence in Quality award categories recognize projects that improved quality in the four areas of care (as defined by the BC Health Quality Matrix). The other four categories are intended to recognize individuals, although there have been a few cases where a team has won. If you are nominating the work of a team, committee, collaborative or initiative, we encourage you to consider nominating them for one of the project-based awards. Even if their work fits within the criteria for one of the individual categories (for instance, advancing the patient voice or blazing the trail for quality culture), it can be difficult for the judges to score teams in the same way they score individuals. You can always ask the Quality Awards team at awards@bcpsqc.ca if you’re not sure which category is most suitable for your nominee!
4. Get some second eyes on it. Nominations are judged on the quality of the submission (10 points of the total 100), which includes grammar and presentation. For instance, make your nomination more readable by breaking long paragraphs up into smaller ones. Ask someone who’s not as familiar with the work you’re nominating to read through your nomination to catch any typos and suggest ways to make your nomination clearer.
5. Send your nomination in early! The earlier you submit your nomination, the more likely that we will have a chance to answer your questions or make a recommendation that you submit in a different category. This year’s deadline is Sunday, July 15, 2018!

Ready to nominate? Here’s how!