Victorian Nursing Students Awards for Excellence
It was indeed a great pleasure to be involved in the selection of two Victoria University Polytechnic Students for the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Victoria Branch Aware Super Student Awards for displaying excellence in nursing theory and clinical practice. You can read all about the award winners at https://www.vupolytechnic.edu.au/news/nursing-students-awarded-excellence and more at https://otr.anmfvic.asn.au/articles/2021-top-nursing-and-midwifery-student-award-winners.
For me, it was a wonderful evening not only to see and congratulate the Victoria University Polytechnic Award Winners Anthony Stalio and Casey Teale, but also to see the other recipients and catch up with peers and friends.
It was also a great opportunity to have a conversation about community nursing with my friends. On reflection, I concluded that nursing is based on caring, compassion, unconditional positive regard and love for humanity that is delivered through professional knowledge and nursing skills.
When Meena Sequeira, a senior teacher from Victoria University Polytechnic joined the conversation, we discussed approaches of teaching adults returning to study (Meena was involved in the Transition into the Diploma of Nursing Program at Victoria University Polytechnic). We talked about tacit knowledge, Socratic questioning and most of all, teachers’ humility and openness towards understanding students’ goals and aspirations.
These conversations provided much food for thought.
It was an inspiring and wonderful evening. I would like to thank everyone who was involved.