NHS: Nursing student sisters step up to help

Sisters Alice and Emily Martin are helping the people of their home town by answering the NHS call for support in the fight against COVID-19.

Alice and Emily are two of 22 CU Scarborough final-year nursing students that have taken on paid clinical placements to work at Scarborough Hospital and in Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust’s community nursing services.

Now the pair are preparing to be part of the first cohort to graduate with a BSc Adult Nursing degree from CU Scarborough in September.

Alice, 25, was a dancer in Essex but pursued a career in nursing after an inspiring stint in domestic services at Scarborough Hospital.

Alice said: “When I worked as a domestic at Scarborough Hospital and saw the day-to-day work of the nurses and the practical and communication skills the role required, I knew I could do it. I took my GCSEs, a Public Health course and secured a spot at CU Scarborough.

“Because of the pandemic we’ve had an opportunity to learn on the job and I’ve learnt things I would not have experienced in a more normal time.

“Helping the hospital during this pandemic has given me greater confidence in myself and my ability. I’m just glad to have helped.

“I don’t think I’d have got through it without Emily and Connor [her boyfriend, who is also on the course]. Emily’s very good academically – she gives me advice and I have helped her on placements. We all support each other.”

Emily, 27, worked as a Red Coat at Butlin’s and the expansion of the Coventry University Group’s nursing education facilities to Yorkshire gave her the platform to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.

She said: “I always wanted to go into nursing but did not want to leave my family – CU Scarborough gave me that opportunity.

“It has been tough, emotional but rewarding to give back and help the community with these placements.”

CU Scarborough nursing course leader Janet Wilson says this experience will be invaluable for their future careers.

She said: “This is an amazing opportunity for our students to gain practical experience of managing patient care, to work as part of a healthcare team and develop their practical and organisational management skills.

“They have experienced first-hand how services quickly adapt and change to meet the requirements of a pandemic. This will give them knowledge and skills they will be able to use throughout their career in nursing.

“We’re incredibly proud of them.”