CAREERS STUDENT LIFE
Outstanding beginnings Frances Pickersgill meets two recent recipients of the Cavell Nurses’ Trust student scholarships The Cavell nursing student awards are given to recognise exceptional nursing and midwifery students. Each year, five scholarships are offered for placements in the UK or abroad. Deborah Cooper is a second-year nursing student at Birmingham City University and received the Cavell Nurses’ Trust Outstanding Student Nurse Award 2015. ‘This was for striving to achieve my best during my placements and in my academic work,’ explains Ms Cooper. ‘I am involved with my university community as a peer mentor and I am also my group representative. I am an RCN student information officer and a university ambassador, welcoming prospective students to open days and interviews. ‘I enjoy spending time with prospective students and hearing their passion and excitement about nursing. It reminds me of my own interview day and how excited I was the day I got my acceptance letter to study at Birmingham City. I love working with people, even the difficult shifts.’ Before she started nurse training, Ms Cooper worked as a healthcare assistant in a dialysis unit and saw the positive difference that transplantation can make to people’s lives. ‘I am delighted to receive the Cavell award because I am hoping to get involved in nursing research and transplantation in the UK and overseas, possibly through an exchange programme. I feel strongly that research is the key to nursing’s future.’
She adds: ‘Nursing research is a small discipline in the UK compared with the United States. If I could travel there, I believe there will be lessons to learn about nurses being empowered to combine their work as researchers and as clinicians.
Deborah Cooper and Pearl Sakoane holding their Cavell Nurses’ Trust Outstanding Student Nurse Award
Comparative research
‘Eventually, I hope to work in research. I already have a degree in genetics and it would be wonderful to combine my passions of nursing, research and genetics to make a difference to the lives of patients.’ Pearl Sakoane, a final-year postgraduate nursing student at Kings College London, was awarded this year’s Edith Cavell Leadership Award. ‘I went to Tanzania alone and directed my own learning, navigating my way around a foreign environment – this showed me that I was capable of more than I expected, ‘ says Ms Sakoane. ‘I pursued a comparative research
study looking at similarities and disparities between UK and Tanzania nursing, particularly around leadership, values and ideals. ‘It struck me that Tanzania nurses were in their roles despite fewer resources and not being as empowered as UK nurses. I want to return to Tanzania to explore that further. Ms Sakoane started a foundation called Meditrip that sends healthcare volunteers to Tanzania and different areas of Africa. ‘We can learn so much from African colleagues,’ she says. ‘I have been involved in several projects with Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, I am the nursing and midwifery representative at Kings and I chair the Health Education South London student and training forum. This shares best practice and mutual concerns, particularly around clinical placements. ‘The main thing that my Tanzania trip gave me is courage and self-belief and what it means to be truly empowered. These values – bravery and courage – are those that Edith Cavell espoused and for me are values I will definitely take into my career’ NS
RESOURCES Watch Deborah Cooper and Pearl Sakoane speaking about their experiences: tinyurl.com/nu2q54k and tinyurl.com/nn3xlhn Edith Cavell Nurses’ Trust www.cavellnursestrust.org/scholarship-awards Student Life online Journals.rcni.com/page/ns/students/student-life
66 may 27 :: vol from 29 no 39 :: 2015 STANDARD Downloaded RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Jul 19, 2016. For personal use only. No NURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2016 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Outstanding beginnings Frances Pickersgill meets two recent recipients of the Cavell Nurses’ Trust student scholarships The Cavell nursing student awards are given to recognise exceptional nursing and midwifery students. Each year, five scholarships are offered for placements in the UK or abroad. Deborah Cooper is a second-year nursing student at Birmingham City University and received the Cavell Nurses’ Trust Outstanding Student Nurse Award 2015. ‘This was for striving to achieve my best during my placements and in my academic work,’ explains Ms Cooper. ‘I am involved with my university community as a peer mentor and I am also my group representative. I am an RCN student information officer and a university ambassador, welcoming prospective students to open days and interviews. ‘I enjoy spending time with prospective students and hearing their passion and excitement about nursing. It reminds me of my own interview day and how excited I was the day I got my acceptance letter to study at Birmingham City. I love working with people, even the difficult shifts.’ Before she started nurse training, Ms Cooper worked as a healthcare assistant in a dialysis unit and saw the positive difference that transplantation can make to people’s lives. ‘I am delighted to receive the Cavell award because I am hoping to get involved in nursing research and transplantation in the UK and overseas, possibly through an exchange programme. I feel strongly that research is the key to nursing’s future.’
She adds: ‘Nursing research is a small discipline in the UK compared with the United States. If I could travel there, I believe there will be lessons to learn about nurses being empowered to combine their work as researchers and as clinicians.
Deborah Cooper and Pearl Sakoane holding their Cavell Nurses’ Trust Outstanding Student Nurse Award
Comparative research
‘Eventually, I hope to work in research. I already have a degree in genetics and it would be wonderful to combine my passions of nursing, research and genetics to make a difference to the lives of patients.’ Pearl Sakoane, a final-year postgraduate nursing student at Kings College London, was awarded this year’s Edith Cavell Leadership Award. ‘I went to Tanzania alone and directed my own learning, navigating my way around a foreign environment – this showed me that I was capable of more than I expected, ‘ says Ms Sakoane. ‘I pursued a comparative research
study looking at similarities and disparities between UK and Tanzania nursing, particularly around leadership, values and ideals. ‘It struck me that Tanzania nurses were in their roles despite fewer resources and not being as empowered as UK nurses. I want to return to Tanzania to explore that further. Ms Sakoane started a foundation called Meditrip that sends healthcare volunteers to Tanzania and different areas of Africa. ‘We can learn so much from African colleagues,’ she says. ‘I have been involved in several projects with Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, I am the nursing and midwifery representative at Kings and I chair the Health Education South London student and training forum. This shares best practice and mutual concerns, particularly around clinical placements. ‘The main thing that my Tanzania trip gave me is courage and self-belief and what it means to be truly empowered. These values – bravery and courage – are those that Edith Cavell espoused and for me are values I will definitely take into my career’ NS
RESOURCES Watch Deborah Cooper and Pearl Sakoane speaking about their experiences: tinyurl.com/nu2q54k and tinyurl.com/nn3xlhn Edith Cavell Nurses’ Trust www.cavellnursestrust.org/scholarship-awards Student Life online Journals.rcni.com/page/ns/students/student-life
66 may 27 :: vol from 29 no 39 :: 2015 STANDARD Downloaded RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Jul 19, 2016. For personal use only. No NURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2016 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
