Midwifery student selected for ICS student council

Second year Midwifery BSc(Hons) student, Georgia Shepherd, has been selected to join the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s Integrated Care System (ICS) Student Council.

Georgia is part of the Sussex ICS and the only student midwife – she’ll work alongside student nurses, a podiatrist, physios and a radiologist. The ICS Student Councils have been created to ensure there is student voice within the education and training system for the future workforce.

Georgia tells us more about her new role and why she decided to apply:

“The university sent an email out about the opportunity and I read about it and went onto the Nightingale website. It seemed like such an exciting opportunity to meet other students who weren’t all midwives to hear about the experiences of others and see what we can achieve together.

“The application itself was fairly straight forward. You needed someone within the university to support your application, so I asked my personal tutor Carol who was so lovely about me applying and was happy to help. The next stage was an online application where they asked questions about uni and placement and what kind of things you wanted to achieve from being a part of the council. They ask about your experiences in placement and how they can aid you in the future.

“They also wanted to know more about what I wanted to achieve if I was selected in the council. I wanted to apply to push myself as I’ve always been quiet and I wanted to develop my leadership skills and confidence.

“I’m hoping to become a more confidence person as part of being on the council. We have had a couple of meetings and our induction day and I already feel more confident presenting my ideas and thoughts.

“I also hope to get to know other students in different healthcare professions and learn more about networking. I’d like to work together to see if we can set collective goals that will aid all student healthcare workers.

“We have set our initial aims and ideas and have our first in person meeting this month which will be held at a regional level so we will get to interact with other councils. I was initially the only student midwife on a regional level which was daunting but I believe there is one other student midwife who joined a few weeks ago in their second round of applications so I’m also excited to meet them.”

Sarah Lewis-Tullett, Midwifery BSc course leader, said of Georgia’s success: “The Florence Nightingale Integrated Care System Council is a great opportunity for Georgia to represent the voice of the student within a wider platform – it’s really important that we understand students’ experiences.

“Being voted onto this council is an amazing opportunity for Georgia to make a difference and will give her a remarkable insight into leadership roles and her future career as a Midwife.”

We also took the opportunity to ask Georgia a bit about her course and how it’s going:

“I absolutely love it! We are currently in a block of uni which has been so nice as I’ve been able to see my cohort in person which didn’t happen a lot on my first year. The placement blocks have been so interesting I can’t wait to continue learning and get back into the hospital.

“So far, I’ve spent the most time out in the community. I’ve absolutely loved it as it’s meant I’ve been able to form relationships with the women and give them an element of continuity of care. It’s been so nice seeing women and families antenatally and then being able to visit them at home with their baby.

“It’s been such a great opportunity to learn a lot as I’ve been able to take on a bigger role the longer I’ve been in community. I’m also very excited to go back into the hospital.”

Interested in becoming a Midwife? Find out about our Midwifery BSc(Hons).