A DISTRICT nursing team which ensures student nurses are equipped with vital experience of working in the community has been shortlisted for a national award.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust’s district nursing team in Teesdale has been jointly shortlisted with Teesside University for the Student Placement of the Year: Community category of The Student Nursing Times Awards 2020.

Sandra Smyth, who leads the district team in Teesdale which has been shortlisted for the award, is currently completing the MSc Apprenticeship in Global Leadership and Management in Healthcare at Teesside University.

The Student Nursing Times award category is to recognise community settings which manage the anxieties associated with completing placements by providing a structured learning environment which helps students to flourish, while ensuring they are supported to learn, practise skills and gain wisdom from the wider team.

Rachel Doubleday, Senior Lecturer in Community and Childhood Studies in the University’s School of Health & Life Sciences, nominated the team for the award. She said: “The team helps to provide placements for a range of healthcare students from Teesside, ranging from nursing associate and pre-registration student nurses, to student district nurses and paramedic students, to name a few.

“I am immensely proud of everything the Teesdale community nursing team has achieved and the supportive and positive ethos they all have to both patient care and learning."

Midwife Alison Anderson who studied at Teesside University has also been shortlisted. The winners will be announced in November.