A student at Liverpool Women’s Hospital has been shortlisted for two prestigious awards for her exceptional contribution to the midwife community.
Ela Yuregir, a student at Liverpool John Moore’s University, has been nominated for the Student Midwife Award in the Royal College of Midwifery (RCM) Annual Awards, and Student Midwife of the Year in the British Journal of Midwifery (BJM) Practice Awards. Both of these award ceremonies are an important part of the midwifery calendar in recognition of outstanding achievements in midwifery practice.
Ela said: "When I first got the emails saying I was shortlisted I was very excited. I was nominated by a peer for the RCM award and I feel really proud and honoured that someone would think to nominate me. I’m excited now, but on the nights of the ceremonies I think I will be quite scared."
The 27-year-old, who is in her final year at Liverpool John Moores University, has been working as a student midwife at the hospital for three years. She said: “I chose to come to LJMU because they had the opportunity to do placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. I had heard very good things about the hospital, and had been told that although it was a really busy maternity unit, it was a great place to work. I’d heard people say if you can work at the Women’s you can work anywhere."
|
Ela Yuregir, 27, has been shortlisted for two national awards |
The Student Midwife Award seeks to recognise a student midwife that has made an exceptional contribution to the midwife community. The winner of this award must show consistent dedication within their role and demonstrated a strong commitment to midwifery and the Royal College of Midwives.
Ela continued: “I have done other things in the past but I realised I love working with people. When I saw how midwives had helped some of my friends in past experiences, it made me realise that midwifery was the career I wanted to go into. It’s completely different to what I thought it would be when I started, but so much better.
"The hardest part of the job is the pressure and the demand. You’re constantly increasing what you have to do. It’s hard with the changes in the NHS, and midwifery in itself, but everyone I have worked with is very supportive. The most rewarding part of the job is seeing the difference you can make to somebody’s life. It’s everything from helping out other midwifes, or helping a woman through birth or the changes you can make to a family. I love it."
Not only does Ela have to juggle university work and her placement at the hospital, she and her friends also set up the Midwifery Society as part of LJMU’s Student Union, giving all the midwifery students (and any student interested in the career) the opportunity to come together, share ideas and get to know each other better. As well as this, she is also a Student Quality Ambassador: a programme set up in the North West of England for healthcare students to highlight good practice and challenge areas needing development in practice areas of their placements.
Ela added: "I think my role as a Student Quality Ambassador was one of the reasons I was nominated for the RCM award. I’m very honoured."
The British Journal of Midwifery Practice Awards will be held on Monday 8th February at the Midland Hotel, Manchester and the RCM Annual Midwifery Awards will be held on Tuesday 8th March 2016 at The Brewery, London, where the winners will be announced.
For more information about the awards, visit http://www.rcmawards.com/ and http://awards.britishjournalofmidwifery.com/