University News Last updated 26 July 2010
A woman described by an examiner as ‘the best student nurse he had ever worked with’ has won an award at Birmingham City University’s annual Health & Socialcare Awards.
Nicola Payne was the first ever recipient of The Angela Gallaher Memorial prize for Nursing and Midwifery. The award has been founded in honour of a Birmingham Senior Lecturer in Nursing who passed away last year following her battle with cancer. The prize is the idea of a former colleague of Angela’s, Louise Hunt, who wanted her friend’s contribution to nursing in Birmingham to be remembered.
Forty-two year old mature student Nicola, who has been studying for a Diploma in Nursing Learning Disabilities, picked up her trophy on Friday 16 July at the award ceremony at the Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston. The Kings Norton mother of two was nominated by her tutors for her hard work and dedication to her studies. Previous to studying, Nicola had worked as a nanny for the same family for 20 years and had not been in education since leaving school.
Nicola said re-entering education was nerve-wracking at first. She said: “I thought I’d be the oldest person on the course – but I wasn’t! I’ve really enjoyed my time at the University and can’t wait to start my new job in August as a Learning Disability Staff Nurse.
“I think I’ve become a different person since starting the course. Initially I was really quiet but now I feel I have a lot more confidence. Also I think my studies have benefitted my 12 year old son because we were able to do our homework together – with my encouragement he put extra time into his studies and passed the 11plus and is now at Grammar School.”
Nicola’s tutor, Marie O'Boyle, said: “Nicola has many qualities particularly her willingness to contribute above and beyond the requirements of the student journey, such as supporting service users to contribute to course developments, and providing peer support to her group.
“This commitment is in addition to an exceptionally busy home life including facilitating one of her son’s rigorous regime of early morning and evening swimming practice prior to and after placement and supporting friends with disabilities to participate in leisure activities.
“Nicola has distinguished herself in practice to the extent that her assessor wrote to the university and declared her to be an exceptional student and in the assessor’s opinion, “the best student nurse he had ever worked with.”