A special acknowledgement has been made to the work and dedication of a Derry nurse coming up to the tenth anniversary of her death.
A one-off nursing bursary for student nurses was launched in honour of Gabrielle Durkan. Gabrielle previously worked as a nurse in Derry’s Altnagelvin Hospital.
Her sister, Mary Durkan, outlined the details of the bursary on social media during the week as the new bursary was announced.
Mary said she was “delighted” that the Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland launched this special one-off bursary scheme for student nurses in memory of her sister.
It will help student nurses navigate through already-difficult times and help to ease the burden that they face.
The Gabrielle Award will be a fitting tribute to a life and legacy filled with passion, compassion and care, and will be a timely nod to the ongoing heroic work of nurses during the challenging time of the pandemic.
Many student nurses worked on hospital wards during the first lockdown, to help ease pressures on the health service. This bursary helps to give something back to them.
This bursary is an acknowledgement of pressures facing students, not least student nurses and a recognition of the important role of unions.
The scheme, administered by the Royal College of Nursing, will offer a number of small bursaries to nursing students at Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University and the Open University.
Details of the application process will be shared to students within relevant schools of nursing.
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