Kathy Murphy, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Saint Mary’s Hospital. part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) has been shortlisted for a national midwifery award in education.
Kathy has been shortlisted for a Royal College of Midwives (RCM) award, in the category, JOHNSON’S® Excellence in Midwifery Education, Learning and Research Award.
A midwife for over 30 years and passionate about education, Kathy has been nominated for a partnership project she leads, which is aimed at widening participation into universities and courses like midwifery, from black and minority ethnic (BAME) populations across our communities.
The project is a collaboration between Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and teams from The University of Manchester Midwifery School and Student Recruitment. The project brings together ten BAME student midwives from across the three year programme at the university, with ten BAME qualified midwives, mainly from MFT. Outreach and educational work also includes the midwives working with pupils from year eight and nine at Loreto High School in South Manchester. The pupils will gain a number of new skills such as interviewing, in order for them to work with the midwives to learn what it means to have gone to university, to be a midwife and to a be midwife from a BAME background. The group will then work with an artist and author to generate a book which can be used in schools across Greater Manchester.
Kathy Murphy, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Saint Mary’s Hospital said,
“I am delighted to have been shortlisted for this RCM award. I’m hugely passionate about Midwifery as a career choice and have been working closely with The University of Manchester to promote it. The project is about making sure pupils who are considering their options can understand what it takes to be a midwife and how they can get there, regardless of their background.
As we approach the Year of the Nurse and Midwife in 2020, there is no better time to celebrate midwifery as a rewarding profession for young people to consider.”
The RCM award winners will be announced in May 2020.
The year 2020 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated 2020 as the first ever international year of the nurse and midwife, providing a “once in a generation opportunity” to showcase the professions.