Kangan Institute’s nursing student Thelma Nhapi was awarded the 2016 Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation (ANMF) – Vic Branch Student Nurse Award in a presentation ceremony held yesterday.
The award recognised a final year Diploma of Nursing student who has demonstrated attributes intrinsic to nursing practice, such as excellent communication and interpersonal skills, understanding of ethical and professional nursing, and an appreciation of the concept of excellence in nursing practice.
Thelma, who moved to Melbourne from Zimbabwe last year, said the award was an opportunity for her to gain a foothold in the dynamic health industry.
“I was pretty ecstatic to hear that I’ve won the award. It means so much to me that all my hard work paid off. I think this award will open a lot of doors for me as future employers will be confident that I’m good at what I do,” she said.
The 24-year-old chose to study nursing as it enabled her to make a positive difference to the life and wellbeing of others.
“I had completed a Bachelor of Marketing and Management but I realised that it wasn’t really what I wanted to do. I decided to do the Diploma of Nursing and it’s been pretty good. As a nurse, you can change someone’s life and do so much to help people. You’re giving back to the community,” she shared.
“Next year I’m planning to work as a nurse while doing my masters in human and health services management. I hope I’ll be able to get into hospital management and work in human services. In the future I also plan to do my masters in nursing practice and get into academia.”
