Student nurse works on Covid frontline at Colchester Hospital

Alex O’Shaughnessy, from Colchester, is in his final year studying adult nursing at the University of Essex.

The 20-year-old has volunteered to join staff on the frontline as part of paid placements at hospital runs by the East Suffolk and North Essex Trust.

It has seen Alex work with the acute medical team at Colchester Hospital.

During his time at the hospital he has been caring for a patient with respiratory failure, treating complex wounds and supporting a patient to manage a chronic condition.

Alex O’Shaughnessy

He is one of 111 healthcare students deployed into paid placements at the trust.

Half of his degree requires his learning to be supported and assessed in the clinical areas and this took place at Colchester Hospital.

When he was asked to return and work on the wards to put all his training into practise, he didn’t hesitate.

Alex was placed on Colchester Hospital’s acute medical same day emergency care unit, where he’s been working since the beginning of February.

He said: “Our skills are advanced enough in practice to be able to work now – and obviously we are overseen by a senior member of staff on every shift too.”

Alex said nursing has been his dream career since he was a child.

He added: “I had to have a couple of surgeries as a kid, so hospitals were familiar to me.

“It’s always been my passion to want to be a nurse.

“Going to work and trying to improve someone’s life is a great reward.

“I genuinely love it. Knowing I’m making a bit of a difference is empowering.”

Alex said shifts can mean you see people with a wide range of needs and reasons for being in hospital.

He said it has been hard and at times “gruelling” during the pandemic but the teams are amazing and all in it together.

As Alex is working while a student nurse he’s called an aspirant nurse and being paid for the shifts he covers, while still under the supervision of a qualified nurse.

He said: “It’s been a real help to be paid as student nurses don’t get a bursary at the moment and we don’t have the time to work alongside our studies.

“So as well as be able to gain more experience, the money has really helped too.”

Alex O’Shaughnessy

Therese Elliott, head of clinical education and workforce, has been arranging the placements.

She said: “As a third year student Alex has a greater level of experience and knowledge to support patients while also being able to continue to undertake his practise learning as a student.

“The trust has been overwhelmed by the support of those students who opted into the deployed paid placements.

“I am extremely proud of the way those students who were able to deploy, managed to continue with their learning whilst also being such a valuable asset in supporting not only our patients, but our teams.

“Although in the second wave only final year nursing students were called to support the workforce, we mustn’t forget all the other students from various nursing, midwifery and allied healthcare professions who were also deployed at the beginning of the pandemic.”