UWE Bristol student up for prestigious UK nursing award

A nursing student from Bristol has been shortlisted for an accolade for creating innovative outreach programmes to inspire and support others to pursue careers in healthcare.

Ella Venn, a nursing student at the University of the West of England, has been selected from 920 entries as a finalist in the Nursing Student category of the RCN Nursing Awards 2023.

Ms Venn will find out if she has won at a ceremony on Friday 10 November at Liverpool Cathedral. The overall RCN Nurse of the Year 2023, selected from all the category winners, will also be announced at the event.

Ms Venn is nursing director and the aspiring students team co-director of Future Frontline team – a social enterprise aiming to inspiring the current and future NHS workforce.

She has been responsible for designing, organising and leading relevant and engaging events for aspiring and current nursing students. Ms Venn contacted speakers, marketed the events, created website and social media content, and reviewed the feedback to inform future ones.

She also leads the Next Gen programme, an innovative outreach initiative to inspire and support sixth form students to pursue a career in healthcare. She liaises with sixth forms and has recruited and trained volunteers from across the UK.

She said: “It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the ever-growing narrative of critical NHS staff shortages, which pose a very serious risk to patient safety. My work at Future Frontline primarily increases the uptake of students and widens participation within nursing.

“I am honoured and humbled by being named a finalist in the RCN Nursing Awards. The acknowledgement of my work serves as a powerful motivator, inspiring me to continue pushing boundaries and making a meaningful impact in the realm of recruiting and advocating for nurses and students.”

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “Our inspiring finalists demonstrate the very best of nursing and what can be achieved in some of the challenging times for the profession.

“They highlight the wide variety of ways nurses improve the care of people at all stages of life and how they demonstrate their professionalism and clinical excellence every day, and in every setting, throughout the UK.”