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Shavonne wins Queen’s Nursing Institute Outstanding Student of the Year Award

Picture of Shavonne

Shavonne Harvey is a District Nursing Sister in Slough and recently completed her Specialist Practitioner Qualification degree at Buckinghamshire New University.

Whilst studying, Shavonne was nominated to the Queen’s Nursing Institute for the national ‘Outstanding Student’ of the year award, which she subsequently won.

Visit the Queen’s Nursing Institute website

Shavonne, who joined us in 2016, has been a nurse for nearly 10 years.

Talking about her career progression, Shavonne explains: “After two years as a community staff nurse, I started the year-long specialist practitioner District Nursing course in Bracknell. I then came back to Slough as a qualified District Nurse.”

Now on maternity leave, Shavonne has found working during the pandemic particularly frustrating because she had to self-isolate due to her pregnancy.

She explains: “I was triaging all the new referrals. So, I was still working, but I felt like I wasn't doing my bit. I wasn’t out there helping and seeing the patients.”

Resilience is an important attribute for the nursing profession at any time and the pandemic has seen the whole country to show their respect to the amazing work of the NHS under the most difficult of circumstances.

Shavonne says: “Even though I didn't get amazing grades at uni, I worked really hard. My lecturer said she nominated me because of my resilience and because I was the most improved student.

Although Shavonne was initially uncertain about taking the course, as she had a two-year-old child and she didn’t consider herself particularly academic, she found it taught her to see the bigger picture and support her patients more. It also helped her to better understand palliative care, which she had always found difficult.

Encouraging others to consider gaining further qualifications, Shavonne says: “The course is very hard but you just need to be super organized. Even with young children it is doable.”

Thinking towards the future, Shavonne concludes: “I’d like to do medical prescribing and aim to become a Queen’s nurse, but most of all, I want to be able to teach and help others.”

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