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One of our Pre-registration Mental Health Nursing MSc students recently won an award for her academic performance with us
Cat Phillips won the Orme Prize which is given to the student who has shown the greatest development over the course of their programme, both in the academic and clinical settings.
Prior to commencing her studies at the School of Health Sciences, Cat worked numerous roles including as a support worker, nursing assistant and mental health recovery practitioner after completing a BA (Hons) Sociology degree at another university.
Cat originally decided to apply for the Mental Health Nursing programme because of her passion for mental health care, and due to a strong desire to become a nurse after working closely with them in previous employment.
Cat was eager to study with us after seeing the university’s modern clinical simulation facilities, and believed that the opportunity to undertake a vocational master’s level programme which enabled her to qualify as a nurse was perfect for her.
She said: “I loved my time at the School of Health Sciences. I feel like I really developed well there.
“Our cohort was small which allowed us to form strong relationships – between students and with the academics as well. It was such a lovely support network – the staff were always willing to help and gave us really personalised teaching. I plan to stay in touch with them in the future – we became really close.”
Cat was pleased to transition smoothly into her postgraduate studies, highlighting the university advisory teams and the School’s Learning and Teaching Support Team as being particularly helpful.
Whilst the Orme Prize may well be the 24-year-old’s current academic highlight with us, there could be more to come before graduation in June.
Her dissertation on personality disorders was earmarked as being particularly impressive and was shared with Dr Gary Lymph who is an expert in the field and a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority.
The Liverpudlian told us: “My dissertation is being reviewed and could be published at some point which is fantastic.
“I’m passionate about challenging the stigma associated with personality disorders and for being an advocate for those who are labelled as having ‘personality difficulties’. I have plans to transition into work closely relating to the issues surrounding this topic in the future.”
In the meantime, Cat was delighted to inform us that she’s already secured full time employment as a mental health nurse in Liverpool (just weeks after finishing her studies) and she can’t wait to get started.
“I take so much confidence from my studies. The placement periods I had were so valuable and diverse.
“I worked at Clock View Hospital where I cared for adults who were acutely mentally unwell and with prisoners at HMP Liverpool where I helped with rehabilitation and release preparations.
“I also enjoyed the opportunity I was given to support individuals with mental health problems in the justice system by ensuring that they had access to the appropriate services. I also found it really rewarding to work with the Children & Young People’s Mental Health Services Response Team who care for youngsters experiencing a mental health crisis.
“All my work placements enabled me to get a feel for the profession in the real world and I know I’ve already tested my knowledge and skills in practice which is reassuring.”
Cat picked the programme’s educational roleplaying activities and opportunities to meet service users in class as other highlights.
She said: “I can use these experiences in the future as they gave me a useful perspective of patients’ day-to-day lives and experiences, and an understanding of what was important to them which allowed me to learn about their point of view rather than only ever seeing things through a professional’s eyes.”
If Cat had the chance to speak to someone considering undertaking her former programme at the next intake, she said that she’d encourage them not to hesitate: “I’d recommend it to anyone.
“I’d tell them not to be scared to ask for help if they need it and to make use of all the university’s different education resources because they’re really helpful – that could be the advisory team, their teachers (because they’re all lovely) or even their fellow students because I know how close our cohort became.”