Nursing students stitch together their learning journey

Students from our Nursing (Child) BSc(Hons) degree were encouraged to foster a completely different form of wellbeing when they helped to design a quilt representing their student journey.

The activity was part of a Belong at Brighton Extra wellbeing event, which saw 17 second and third year students gather in the Students’ Union bar to decorate fabric squares with words and images that told the story of their progress towards becoming fully qualified nurses.

The squares were later sewn together into a quilt, which is being used as bedding for the infant cot in the nursing simulation suite to provide a legacy for future students on the course.

The event, which was organised by Senior Lecturer and Course Leader Alison Taylor with help from children’s nursing colleagues Alan Monaghan and Lisa Ford, was designed to help the participants build a sense of belonging with their cohort and course.

Alison said: “The idea was to help to build students’ professional children’s nursing identity, fostering a sense of pride and belonging and allowing them to share experiences and have some fun as a group. I think we definitely achieved this.

“This was my first Belong at Brighton Extra event, as I took over course leadership at the start of the year, and we’d love to run something like it again. We’ve had social get-togethers in the past which have always been fun, but this was the first time we had an activity as a focus.”

The feedback was certainly positive. One student said: “I loved this afternoon with my course peers and lecturers. Alan, Alison and Lisa are the best lecturers and have made a massive difference to my journey at the university of Brighton. Fab afternoon, thank you!”

Another added: “It was a very chilled afternoon and I was able to spend time with peers to reflect on our time on our course.”

The staff, too, found the event rewarding. Alison said: “What I liked most was seeing all the creative and original designs the group came up with to represent their student journey, and getting to know them as individuals outside of their course. The finished quilt is now a legacy for that cohort of students to leave for the future and has already been used in the infant cot in the simulation suite.”

Find out how you can become a nurse with the University of Brighton.