EAST Lancashire hospitals are to recruit more "supernurses" to lead the way as role models of nursing care.

The top-grade staff will raise standards by demonstrating their skills in every-day practice instead of disappearing from the wards to offices and lecture rooms.

The two new recruits in Blackburn hospitals and one recruit at Burnley General will also be responsible for creating better services for patients.

But what's the difference between a nurse and a "supernurse"? Reporter AMY BINNS asked two nurse consultants, who took up the newly-created positions this year, about their role in modern hospital teams.

EAST Lancashire's two supernurses have very different jobs but they share one ideal -- that office work won't get in the way of helping patients.

Brigid Reid, of Blackburn Royal Infirmary, and Diane Scott, of Burnley General, are both pleased that reaching the top level doesn't mean leaving behind the people they care about.

Brigid, a nurse consultant in general surgery, said she had tried to keep up her hands-on skills in her last job, as assistant director of nursing in a Birmingham Hospital.

But the most she could fit in was one day a month with patients while the rest of her time was taken up with management.

Now she spends at least half her time with patients on various wards in the surgical unit -- although she had to get used to the local slang! She said: "It took me a while to work out what 'bobbing in for a brew' meant but now I've settled in I do enjoy it more. I'm doing it to improve the practice of other people as well.

"I'm influencing other people by giving them a role model. I can support staff and give them the courage to think differently."

Supernurses have to be educated to masters degree level and are also given leadership training courses to help them adjust to their new roles.

Diane, now a nurse consultant in child health, has worked at Burnley General since she started there as a cadet 25 years ago and never wanted to quit the wards although she has spent time as a student and in teaching and management.

She said: "With the new role, you can advance your career without having to leave your patients."

Diane's now helping organise an observation and admissions unit, which aims to decrease the number of children who have to spend the night in hospital by keeping them under observation for eight hours.

She also works in other areas of the hospital which children attend, such as the Accident and Emergency department, and helps show junior doctors the ropes.

Diane feels the new roles, which acknowledge nurses' expertise, help bring together doctors and nurses who have traditionally had very separate roles.

Brigid agrees, and believes the new role validates nurses' different skills.

She said: "I have never wanted to be a doctor. Although I know it's interesting to be a detective, diagnose an illness and treat it, it's also interesting to work directly with people making a difference to their daily lives.

"We can help people live with the reality of their disease, look at their emotional needs and follow them across the boundaries into the community. We all have a part to play."

Picture: Diane takes time out for a chat with Claire Scott, nine, on the Deerplay ward