The students, who carried out placements in hospitals across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, were given their ICARE badges at the annual ICARE Conference, held at the University’s Luton campus.

The students who received the ICARE badge were:

• Sharon Graham – Midwifery
• Elizabeth Payne – Midwifery
• Ashley Champ – Midwifery
• Elizabeth Pyatt – Midwifery
• Lucy Nganga – Nursing
• Farzad Sajjad – Operating Department Practice
• Justine McNulty – Midwifery
• Clara Seers – Nursing
• Lise Honeyman – Midwifery
• Stacey Coster – Midwifery
• Lucy-Anne Richardson – Midwifery
• Cinderella Dutiro – Nursing
• Ernestina Osei – Nursing
• Lee Mapp – Nursing
• Laura Ducker – Midwifery
• Lauren Singleton – Nursing
• Angel Brown – Nursing
• Lelia Omar – Nursing
• Emilie Roast – Nursing

On receiving her badge, Midwifery student Justine McNulty said: “I feel very proud and honoured to receive an ICARE award.  It has been an extremely tough second year for me and I have really struggled.

“Receiving this award is just the boost I need to keep me going because it helps me to realise that I am appreciated and it will be worth it.”

The ICARE Badge award scheme was established in 2014 and allows patients and their families to nominate students for the award if they have provided excellent care to them while in hospital.

Senior Lecturer in Midwifery Practice and ICARE Conference organiser Marcia Ogunji said: “I am extremely proud of the students who received an ICARE badge at this year’s conference. Care and caring are central to the role of the healthcare professional.

“Being awarded a badge is evidence that students from Nursing, Midwifery, Paramedic Science and Operating Department Practice are really having a positive impact on the patient experience.”

The ICARE conference bought together students from across the School of Healthcare Practice, as well as professionals and academics, to debate what it means to be a healthcare professional, and to say ‘I care’.

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