Apprentice degree nurse highly commended in Workplace Wellbeing Awards

A high-flying nursing apprentice at Essex has been recognised for her outstanding work in the Great British Workplace Wellbeing Awards.

Hayley Stevens secured the Highly Commended award in the Most Inspiring Employee of the Year category during a showpiece event last week.

She was among dozens of people recognised on the night for their contribution to making positive change to lives of the Great British workforce.

Hayley, who is completing a two-year Nursing Degree Apprenticeship in Mental Health on our Southend Campus, said: “Being highly commended to me is a massive achievement, one I am extremely proud of. I always work to improve patient care and make a difference one patient at a time.

“Focusing on physical health checks for patients with a Serious Mental Illness with my role as an Associate Practitioner within adult community recovery and wellbeing."

Hayley has been working with the Early Intervention team for Psychosis as part of her placement and is looking forward to taking new skills and knowledge back to her working practice at the end of her apprenticeship. Particular knowledge areas that have improved include assessments, risk assessing and care planning.

Thomas Currid, Senior Lecturer from Essex’s School of Health and Social Care, said: “Hayley is an exceptional apprentice.

“She has many years of experience of delivering care and has used her observations to build on her knowledge and skills to impact positively on the lives of the patients that she cares for.

“Alongside this, she is a valuable member of the teams that she works alongside, and is keen to disseminate her learning to others to develop an effective community of learning.”

Hayley’s success comes after three other nursing students were recognised for their work as part of the Student Nursing Times Awards 2024.

Adult Nursing students Emma Bird and Rae Spencer have been shortlisted for the Student Nurse of the Year Award, while Mental Health nurse Sunny Atkinson is in the running for the Outstanding Contribution to Student Affairs prize.

The winners of this year’s Student Nursing Times Awards will be announced in April.