60 seconds with Toni Bewley
Toni Bewley, chair of the service user and carer group in the faculty of health, social care and medicine at Edge Hill University, talks about her career and what she is looking forward to most at Nursing Live 2024.
Toni Bewley, chair, service user and carer group, Edge Hill University
Register for your free ticket and join us at the ACC in Liverpool on 23-24 October, 2024. Take a look at the event agenda and plan your visit to Nursing Live 2024.
What do you enjoy most in your current role and why?
The diversity of being able to work with students beginning their nursing journeys, qualified nursing staff who come to the university to access specific post-graduation training to expand their knowledge and others who are considering going into nursing.
Can you tell us about one of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your career?
I was at the very beginning of my nursing career when formalised university education started. I experienced a lot of unease and uncertainty from staff around me at the time. Many did not see how nursing and higher education qualifications married together and were opposed to this at first due to a lack of understanding. This is still happening in many areas and is cause for public debate, with a constant dialogue related to the need for nurses to have their educational programmes based in universities. I will forever endorse the need for nursing to be a graduate profession, where nurses are recognised on an equal footing to other graduate professions.
What advice would you give to newly qualified nurses?
Communication is key to you being able to advocate for yourself and for others – be they patients, families or colleagues. Always remember that you are important and be prepared to stand up for your professional, moral and ethical principles.
If you were the next health minister, what would you tackle first and why?
Potentially there is a lack of relevant placement areas for nursing students to go to. We need more hospitals and medical centres. Simulation is not an overall panacea for nursing students to be able to develop all the skills needed to look after patients. Nursing students also need to be supported in a more effective way; this may mean an increase in the existing bursary that would attract more people (especially those with existing financial commitments) to be able to enter the profession.
What are you looking forward to at Nursing Live this year?
A chance for nurses to get together, to meet each other, hear about new developments in practice, share stories and link with like-minded people.
Toni Bewley is on this year’s Nursing Live Advisory Board and is chairing the following sessions on Wednesday 23 October:
The power of patient and family involvement to transform student education and children’s nursing
Pain management
Innovation in healthcare for very young complex cardiac children: the Little Hearts at Home platform