Wednesday 30-09-2015 - 14:36

Louisa's Blog

How the Student Leaders Programme has helped develop my career, and how it can develop yours too

 

The past 2 years of studying nursing at GCU have been an exciting whirlwind of opportunities, personal and professional growth and not to mention- a lot of fun! The Student Leaders Programme has been my passport in giving me the confidence to speak at events at Parliament, shake hands with dignitaries at the Royal Garden Party and allowing me to collect the Lindsay leadership prize at last year’s Big Ball. Although I have always been motivated to build a career in nursing, I did not expect to have the chance to engaged in such a wide range of career developing opportunities at such an early stage.

 

But before I go any further, what is the Student Leaders Programme?

 

“The programme aims to get you to think about leadership and to realise that every GCU student has the ability to demonstrate leadership throughout their University career, in the workplace and in any volunteering or mentoring role.

Getting involved in the programme will allow you to become more confident, perform better and learn how to ‘sell’ yourself in this increasingly competitive graduate market. You can meet professionals from Business, Health and Engineering backgrounds and receive training from companies such as Morgan Stanley and Scottish Institute for Enterprise.”

(GCU Students’ Association)

 

Time and time again questions surrounding leadership crop up in interviews when you apply for your first job after university; What qualities do you think you possess that make you a good leader? Can you give me an example of time where you have shown good leadership skills? Do you think you are a good role model for others, can you explain why?

 

I know that I will be one of many newly qualified nurses leaving GCU in 2016 to apply for my first staff nurse post. I also know that I can expect to answer ‘the leadership question’, during the interview process as it is vital component of becoming a competent staff nurse. Leadership is part of a skill set that enables us to make timely and effective judgement calls in a busy ward environment and drives us to raise concerns when a patient is at risk of receiving poor care.  With all this in mind I decided to use the opportunity sign up with the Student Leaders Programme to develop my leadership skills and potentially give my C.V. an edge over other applicants. Engaging in Student Leaders also demonstrates that I am keen to undertake continual professional development and gets you into the good habit of attending study days.

 

The workshops I selected have had a huge impact on my professional development. Last year I bit the bullet and signed up for the public speaking workshop as getting up and presenting seminars has always filled me with dread! The advice and support the group was given was fantastic and it gave me the opportunity to reflect on my experiences of public speaking and breakdown my fears. I was able to draw on the workshop earlier this year when I was asked by the Royal College of Nursing to speak at a student conference to a crowd of 1200. If someone had told me I would be doing this at the start my degree, I would of laughed in their face, but I did it and it felt great! Sometimes forcing ourselves into awkward and stressful situations can be a great opportunity for personal growth.

 

The other workshop I completed was on emotional intelligence, another invaluable resource for a nurse’s toolkit. This gave me the chance to assess how I react in times of crisis and build on my communication skills. From this experience I was inspired to work alongside the Royal College of Nursing and GCU Students’ Association to develop a Resilience workshop for this year’s student. The workshop will be an excellent opportunity to gain peer-to-peer support and develop effective coping mechanism that will help you manage stress from your first day of clinical placement throughout your nursing career.

 

Although I have come at this from a student nurse perspective, Student Leaders is appropriate for all students across all the different schools at GCU. So why not give it a try?

 

Louisa

 

Fancy signing up to the Programme? Just click HERE.