Teesside University student nurse Kelly Spence has received national recognition at a prestigious awards ceremony in London.
Final year BSc (Hons) Nursing: Child student Kelly won the accolade of Most Inspirational Student of the Year at the Student Nursing Times Awards 2017.
Kelly, 33, from Darlington, said: “I was overwhelmed when I found out I had been nominated and absolutely overwhelmed to have won. It was an amazing day at the awards in London and I met some inspirational people.”
Kelly added: “I am so proud to represent nursing at Teesside and want to thank my family and the University for the support they have given me.”
She chose to study at Teesside University after looking at other nursing courses. “I visited a few universities when I was thinking of doing the degree, but I was impressed most by the facilities for nursing at Teesside.
“The degree came highly recommended to me and I knew a few people who have studied here.”
Kelly added: “I have always wanted to be a nurse and had started to study at college, but I was diagnosed with epilepsy.
“I took another direction in my career, but when I turned 30 I decided to go for it and completed an access course. I also won an award from the Helena Kennedy Foundation and they helped to mentor me through my studies.
“As a mature student there was a bit of age difference among the students on the nursing degree, but we all got on so well. I’ve loved my time at Teesside and really made sure I immersed myself into student life.”
Teesside University was also shortlisted for three other awards. Sophie Proud was shortlisted as Student Nurse of the Year (Child Nursing), Catherine Thompson was nominated for BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Learning Disabilities) and the University was shortlisted for Nurse Education Provider of the Year (Pre-Registration).