A STUDENT nurse from Basildon Hospital has won an award from the Royal College of Nursing Institute.

The college's nursing student award was won by Temitope (Temi) Babajide, who has been a student nurse at the hospital for two and a half years and is a student at Anglia Ruskin University.

Last year Temi undertook a 21-day nursing elective placement to Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Ghana. She raised money to ship medical equipment and, in recognition of this, Basildon Hospital donated supplies in support of her efforts.

Once there, as part of a service improvement project, she gave a presentation on using gloves to nurses, colleagues and the wider team, adapting resources from a gloves awareness conference she had been to at home.

She helped run a sport event at a local orphanage and organised a widows’ event, which included a health check, empowerment session and free lunch. Through that screening, some patients received diagnoses of underlying conditions and are now receiving treatment.

Temi said: “My nursing training at Basildon Hospital has enabled me to work with incredible teams both here and abroad.

"This award is a great example of the ripple effect of the work nurses do and its impact on the community and our profession.

"I look forward to continuing to make a difference, developing myself and to growing as a nurse practitioner. I feel honoured that my work has been acknowledged and it’s amazing that I have been given this award."

The 2020 RCNi Nurse Awards took place virtually, with Temi announced as winner in her category by Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke.

Temi is now finishing the last few weeks of her nurse training on the Acute Medical Unit at Basildon Hospital.