Outstanding support for future mental health nurses recognised at awards ceremony

10 June 2009

A Wrexham man has picked up a prestigious award in recognition of his efforts to help train a new generation of mental health nurses.

Student nurses learning their profession under the wing of Jim Stillings, a mental health nurse in the Llwyn y Groes unit at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, nominated him to receive one of the first ever Excellence in Practice Awards from Glyndŵr University.

The awards have been created by the University to acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by current healthcare practitioners in developing the practitioners of tomorrow.

Southsea resident Jim, who works on the Hafod ward of Llwyn y Groes, acted as a mentor for students studying on the BN (Hons) Nursing (pre-registration) - Mental Health specialism course at the University who spent placements at the hospital as part of their training.

 “Mental health nursing can be a really tough job,” said Jim, who’s worked as a mentor for five years. “If students are not enjoying it it’s a waste of time, so I try to make sure they have the best experience possible. As a mentor, I’m assigned a student nurse to work with and they shadow me in everything I do, providing the patient is willing. It’s one of the best ways to learn about mental health nursing and, depending what stage a student is at in their degree, they could be working on any task in the ward. Third year students could be doing everything that I do in a day’s work.”

Jim, a qualified nurse of eight years, added: “I’m really pleased to receive the award and I’d like to thank all my colleagues on the Hafod ward at Llwyn y Groes for making it a pleasant working and learning environment.”

Jim was one of two nurse mentors to be presented with an Excellence in Practice Award at a conference – Modern Mentors and Practice Teachers in Health and Social Care - hosted by Glyndŵr University.

Nicola Vickers, from the Evington Ward at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, picked up the second award.

The conference, which was supported by psychiatric rehabilitation group Cambian Healthcare, Wulf Fund and the Royal College of Nursing, brought together students and mentors from across the healthcare sector to share ideas and listen to guest speakers. Attendees included nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and osteopaths.

Alex Carson, head of the school of health, social care, sport and exercise sciences at Glyndŵr University, said: “The main issue in healthcare in North Wales will always be about improving the quality of life of people living in the region. It’s events such as this which bring together academics and professionals working out in practice that make all the difference.”

Glyndŵr University offers a range of professional degree programmes including nursing, social work and occupational therapy. Also being delivered are a range of courses in specialisms such as school nursing, community children’s nursing, practice nursing, health visiting and district nursing, along with mental health and adult nursing.

See more information about undergraduate courses and postgraduate courses in health and social care at Glyndŵr University