University of Winchester celebrates contribution made by nurses

The University of Winchester celebrated the contribution made by nursing staff at a special event to mark International Nurses Day.

This year’s theme was “Our Nurses, Our Future” echoing the name of the International Council of Nurses’ (ICN) global campaign to achieve better global health for all.

The special reception organised by the University’s Faculty of Health and Wellbeing at the West Downs Centre on Thursday was opened by Deputy Head of Nursing, Ian Winkworth, who reflected on the impact of Florence Nightingale’s work*. The event featured presentations by a selection of distinguished guest speakers who spoke about their experiences and professional journeys in nursing.

Paula Hull, Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, described how “Nursing is about the art of people, walking alongside people at some of the challenging times in their lives”.

Jonathan Beebee, CEO at PBS4, an organisation which supports people with learning disabilities, and Professional Lead in Learning Disabilities at Royal College of Nursing, and Juliet Borwell, Quality Lead for Practice Learning for Health Education England, both described how nursing had led them up unexpected career paths.

Students, staff and guests were inspired to reflect on the lifelong learning that a career in Nursing involves, captured by speaker Katie Pritchard Thomas, Deputy Chief Nurse at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who said that every day was still a learning day for her.

Justine Clements, Business Development Manager at the Faculty of Health & Wellbeing,  said: “The  interesting diverse professional journeys of the speakers demonstrated the varied career pathways open to our students and highlighted the art of the possible.”

The University of Winchester is proud to offer undergraduate degree programmes in all four fields of Nursing (child, adult, learning disabilities and mental health) as well as a Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeships (RNDAs) in all four fields.