UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 06 MAY 2016
Two nursing students from Birmingham City University are celebrating after being announced as the winners of a prestigious Student Nursing Times Award.
The national competition, now in its fifth year, aims to celebrate the drive and commitment of those who go the extra mile, and are the only awards to celebrate the very best in student nurses and nurse education.
25-year-old Roxanne Williams from Smethwick, scooped up the award for Student Nurse of the Year in the child nursing category. Roxanne decided to go into nursing after losing her younger cousin to Neuroblastoma in 2012.
Roxanne said: “During his fight, I spent a lot of time on Ward 15 and the Teenage Cancer Trust unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital. It was there that some of the nurses asked me, ‘If you feel so strongly about nursing children, why aren't you doing it?’ Almost four years on, here I am - this was always what I was supposed to do.”
The award judges commended Roxanne as “an inspirational children's nurse with qualities including passion, courage and commitment and a determination to succeed in the face of doubt from others.”
26-year-old Victoria Abrahams, from Glossop, Derbyshire, was awarded Student Nurse of the Year in the adult nursing category. The award judges commended Victoria as “patient, compassionate, family focused and a true champion for older adults with a heightened awareness to carers’ needs.”
Victoria said: “I'm completely overwhelmed and extremely privileged to be awarded the Nursing Times Student Nurse of the Year award. I am so lucky to have had amazing support from my parents, sister and fiancée during my studies. Birmingham City University and my personal tutor have pushed me to achieve my goals and I am now focusing on finishing my final placement and academic work.”
Carol Doyle, Head of School for Nursing and Midwifery Professions at Birmingham City University, said:
Jenni Middleton, Editor, Nursing Times, said: “If you are training to be a nurse or are already a nurse, you are a pretty exceptional person. It is an incredibly tough job. It is an amazingly rewarding profession. And it takes someone incredibly special to do it. It takes skill, it takes knowledge, it takes hard work, it takes dedication, and it takes commitment to be a nurse.
“At Nursing Times, we want to support nurses to be the best they can be. Our ‘Nursing Times’ awards winners and ‘Student Nursing Times’ awards winners are role models of what hard work, commitment and talent can see you achieve.”