The Student Quality Ambassador programme is an NHS North West Initiative for healthcare students to promote best practice and quality initiatives within the workplace, challenging the current standards of care. The programme runs across the whole of the North West, providing students from a range of different universities with the opportunity to role model and positively affect the quality of healthcare.
Students who are involved with the Student Quality Ambassador programme share best practice between them, and contribute to innovation through regular meet ups, supporting their peers in presentations, conferences and events. The programme forms a region-wide collaboration of Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) and Service Providers to work with students with a focus on promoting their projects with care and compassion in the health and social care sector.
So what exactly does a Student Quality Ambassador do?
Previous Student Quality Ambassadors have been involved with a variety of projects to improve patient care. For example, the ’15 Steps Toolkit’, Audits, Mock Inspections and becoming Dementia Friends. But it doesn’t stop there! As a Student Quality Ambassador, students are provided with the opportunity to develop their own ideas from what inspires them. An example of this includes the ‘Are You a Veteran?’ project from one of our very own Edge Hill SQA’s.
Student Name: Karen Vernon
Project Name: Are you a Veteran?
Are you a Veteran? Is a project developed on the SQA programme by Mental Health Student Nurses, Karen Vernon and Natalie Matthews. Running alongside the organisation Veterans in Sefton, Karen and Natalie started working to implement and create awareness around Mental Health support services available to Veterans and their families.
Now leading on the project, Karen Vernon aims to involve Healthcare Professionals and further support services to stop and ask the question, ‘Are you a Veteran?’ during routine and emergency medical appointments. She hopes to develop a greater understanding of Veterans within the Health and Social Care sector, so that signposting and delivering care can be provided as best as possible.
This was demonstrated at a recent World Mental Health Day conference hosted at Edge Hill University, whereby Karen presented her project and signposted to relevant support services. Karen also facilitated guest speakers from Veteran’s in Sefton to speak at the conference about Mental Health in the Forces.
Karen’s goal is to raise awareness for Veteran’s Mental Health and work with healthcare providers to provide tailored support.
As referenced on the Student Quality Ambassador website, members of the SQA programme regularly engage the following:
- Undertake practice based learning and feel empowered to champion and highlight good practice
- Challenge areas of practice requiring development
- Show leadership and motivation for themselves and other students, including being test subjects for innovations such as trialling the use of Standardised Numeracy Assessment Project (SNAP), Values and Behaviours assessment tools and e-learning projects
- Work alongside and liaise between Practice Areas, Practice Education Facilitators, Higher Education Institutions, Students, Service Users/Patients and Carers, and further Professionals
So, are you up for the challenge?
If you’re a current Edge Hill student studying Health, Social Care or Medicine and would like to get involved, please click here to download the Student Quality Ambassador programme brochure and apply online.