Praise for students 
on the frontline

Many students, former students and staff of the South Eastern Regional College have been stepping into the frontline of the efight against Coronavirus.

Rosemary Peters is a Lecturer in Health and Care at SERC, who also works part time in Greenvale House Nursing Home in Castlewellan and through a nursing agency at the Belfast City Hospital.

“Over the past few weeks the lecturing team at SERC have been hearing from many students who are working on or preparing to work on the front line as well as apprentices whose work in trades has become part of the vital effort to fight Coronavirus,” she explained. “Katie Lowry and Shannon Valentine are both second year nursing students at UU Magee, Katie is working at the Covid19 testing centre in Ards Hospital and Shannon is getting ready for placement on the wards. Megan Farrell is a first year student nurse, again getting ready for placement.

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Joshua Russell is a Band 3 Senior Health Care Assistant working in the Downe Hospital, Colm Davey is a final year Paramedic working for Northern Ireland Ambulance Service in the Newcastle/Castlewellan area, Jack and Sam Strain, are twin brothers in their final year of nursing at Queen’s University Belfast. Jack is going to work in the stroke unit and Sam is off to the endocrine unit. Matthew Carlin is a final year Nursing student with Open University who is doing is management placement at the Covid 19 ward at Ulster Hospital, it’s likely he will be fast tracked through his placement so he is ready for work.

“The students are all filled with a degree of anxiety and excitement about their roles. They recognise they are all on a huge learning curve that will give them unprecedented experience of working on the front line during a pandemic. They all tell me they are getting fantastic support from everyone working in the NHS and they all are working with excellent teams.”