Barnsley Hospital staff nurse wins two top awards from Sheffield university

Bryony Lazenby, aged 27, of Dronfield, studied for a BSc in adult nursing at the university, qualified in March and started work at the hospital 10 months ago.

She won the university’s Nursing and Midwifery prize for Academic Achievement and the Nursing and Midwifery Prize for Student Engagement.

Bryony received the highest overall grade out of the students on her course. She also represented students across the university at course, department and faculty levels.

She said: “We were supposed to have a graduation ceremony in November but it was cancelled because of Covid and was then cancelled again in May.

“Like many nurses, I was feeling a bit tired 10 months into a pandemic so to hear that I had got the awards was a real boost.”

Bryony added: “I love working in the emergency department (ED). Some EDs do not take newly-qualified nurses – they often have to spend six to nine months on acute medical units first – so I was really pleased to get into Barnsley ED.

"I had binge-watched seasons one and two of Casualty 24/7 on TV and thought I really want to work there!”

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Bryony, who also has a degree in business and management, said: “Although it can be stressful in the ED, my colleagues always make time to go through things with me.

"The Advanced Nursing Practitioners (ANPs) are brilliant. For example, I’d never seen a chest drain put in before and they showed me the procedure.

"All of us in the department do lots of informal education which is not only good for us but for the whole hospital.”

Bryony, who likes walking in the Peak District, gaming and reading in her spare time, eventually wants to go on and do further study to become an ANP herself.

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