Celebrating Excellence: Our Award Winners

Our congratulations to the three winners of the Sheila Allan Prize from our BSc Nursing Studies cohort. The Sheila Allan Prize awards the best Honours dissertation(s) amongst our final undergraduate nursing students for their academic excellence. It is named after Sheila Allan, a notable Nursing Studies alumni and author of Fear Not to Sow: the Story of Elsie Stephenson, First Director of University Nursing Studies in Europe. 

This year’s winners are as follows: 

Amy Campbell – Sheila Allan Prize: “What are the Facilitators and Barriers to palliative and End-of-life care clinical experiences as perceived by Undergraduate Nursing Students in Scotland” 

When asked how she felt to receive this award for her dissertation, Amy explains how her passion for the topic she chose is what drove her forward when her dissertation seemed like an impossible task, and expressed her gratitude for the academics who guided her in through this project. 

“I plan to share [the knowledge gained through my research] with any students and RN that I encounter. My long term plan is to practice in palliative care and in a few years to complete my masters around palliative care education and preparedness for nurses in this field.” 

 

Emma Henriksen – Sheila Allan Prize: “Uncovering the Sexual Healthcare Experiences of Women Affected by FGM in England: A Qualitative Exploration” 

 

Poppy Mason-Smith – Sheila Allan Prize: “The Experiences of Transgender Men and Non-Binary Individuals Engaging with Cervical Cancer Screening in Scotland: A Descriptive Phenomenological Inquiry” 

When asked about her experience writing her dissertation, Poppy notes that writing this dissertation made her feel more confident in advocating for and addressing the needs of transgender and nonbinary patients.  

“The dissertation has also opened up my eyes to the intricacies of conducting research and improved my ability to critique research. Overall, dissertation writing was a positive experience that has made me interested in pursuing post-graduate studies in nursing research in the future.” 

 

Dr Leah Macaden, Course Organiser, expresses her congratulations: 

“Art and Science are both two sides of the same coin to promote excellence in Nursing. We are very proud at Nursing Studies that our students have the opportunity to undertake an Honours Dissertation in their final year. The Dissertation course that runs over two semesters provides our students with the invaluable opportunity to embark on their nursing / health research journeys as novice researchers mentored by experienced and expert faculty on a wide range of topics relevant to health and wellbeing. Evidence based health care is essential to influence best practice and this course equips our students to engage with and examine evidence critically to develop their research ideas in an area that they are passionate about and would like to pursue as part of their career / professional development.” 

 

Our congratulations also go to the two winners of our best performance prize and our winner of the best dissertation prize from our MA Health, Science and Society cohort this year. 

This year’s winners are as follows: 

Eve Scott – Best Overall Performance 

When asked about her experience of the MA programme, Eve describes the enthusiastic and encouraging environment created by the teaching staff, and credits being in an environment where discussions were encouraged and opinions could be shared, as a big part of her positive experience of the course.  

“I have been constantly engaged with the learning material and encouraged to explore my own personal interests. I am interested in a variety of areas associated with health and personal experiences of health and the MA program enabled me to explore these areas in depth which I feel more structured courses would not allow.” 

 

Imogen Lewis – Best Overall Performance 

 

Estelle Heng – Best Dissertation 2023: “'As one gets older, we need it.' A qualitative study exploring digital health technology for older women in Singapore” 

When asked about her dissertation journey, Estelle reflects on how her dissertation topic emerged from the practical work experience she took on during her degree, which prompted her to ask questions based on the knowledge gained from her classroom learning, particularly in regards to digital health. 

“As I move forward post-graduation, I am glad to have explored a topic that genuinely interested me. And as I step into the professional world, I look forward to applying my knowledge in health to support the evolving healthcare landscape.” 

 

Dr Sally Brown, Programme Director, expresses her congratulations:  

“The MA Health, Science and Society programme awards two prizes; the prize for best dissertation goes to the student whose dissertation has achieved the highest mark, which this year was won by Estelle Heng. Estelle conducted an insightful, nuanced study of the health needs of a small community, and produced a beautifully written dissertation which was a pleasure to read. The second prize is for best overall performance, which goes to the student who has the highest mark across all their Honours level courses, which is an average of all their marks across third and fourth year. This year we decided to award the prize jointly to two students who were separated by an incredibly narrow margin of less than a quarter of a mark, and those two students were Eve Scott and Imogen Lewis. This prize demonstrates a consistent level of hard work and high performance across two years of studying, and is well deserved by both students. 

Congratulations to our prize winners, and to all our graduates of 2022/23.”