The inspirational winners of the 2024 Student Nursing Times Awards were revealed in front of the nursing community on Friday 26 April at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
Celebrating its 13th year, the event brought together nearly 800 talented student nurses, education providers, and mentors to celebrate the very best in nurse education. The awards recognise and reward outstanding educational establishments and honour those who are committed to developing new nursing talent.
Following a rigorous judging process with an independent panel of judges, Staffordshire University won the prestigious Nurse Education Provider of the Year (Pre-registration) category in recognition of its BSc (Hons) Nursing Practice (Child) course.
The judges recognised the University’s commitment to both the programme and students through teaching, research and extracurricular activity such as charity work. They commented: “The relationships our winner has with its students demonstrates the nurturing environment it develops, enabling a positive learning environment and deepening understanding. Our winner's presentation showed that its programme cares about its students. Well done!”
Students and staff at Staffordshire University were also shortlisted for Student Nurse of the Year: Children, Student Innovation in Practice and Nursing Associate Programme of the Year.
Mike Phillips, Executive Dean of the School of Health, Science and Wellbeing, said: “We are thrilled to have been selected by the judges as the winner of this prestigious award. At Staffordshire University we are passionate about providing a nurturing and supportive environment for our student nurses and we are exceptionally proud that this was recognised by the judges.
“Our Nursing Practice (Child) degree course is a great example of how we are putting this into practice and this award reflects the hard work and dedication from all our academic teams, professional support colleagues and industry partners.”
He added: “All of our students and staff who were shortlisted should be incredibly proud of their achievements – to be recognised on a national stage like this is a huge accomplishment.”
The awards ceremony was introduced by Chief Nurse for Health Education England Professor Mark Radford CBE, an honorary graduate of Staffordshire University who opened its £5.8 million Centre for Health Innovation in Stafford.
The pioneering facility provides immersive teaching and learning experiences, making use of state-of-the-art technology and hands on training to support the next generation of healthcare workers.
Staffordshire University is also supporting students into healthcare professions by providing financial support to new students, including £750 cost of living scholarships for those from low income households. In addition, students enrolling on the Adult Nursing degree course will receive a £500 Adult Nursing scholarship.
Nursing Times editor, Steve Ford said: “A massive congratulations to all of our winners at the 2024 Student Nursing Times Awards. It is always an honour to host the awards each year and once again, I was really impressed by the calibre of the entries.
“The winning educators, universities and placement providers demonstrate the constant evolution and development in the way the next generation of nurses are educated, equipping them to deal with the challenges they will face and to provide the best care possible.”
Discover more about Staffordshire University’s range of professional healthcare courses at an upcoming Open Day – book your place.