Victoria Kinmonth-Gordon, soon to graduate from 明星八卦 University of London’s Nursing Associate Apprenticeship Programme, has received the coveted ‘Learner of the Year’ award at the annual London North-West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH) Staff Excellence Awards, held at Wembley Stadium.
Irish-born Victoria, from Berkshire, was an Inflight Manager for British Airways, but got a taste of the healthcare profession when she volunteered for Project Wingman during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside crew from other airlines, she set up a first-class lounge at LNWH to look after NHS staff. The crew’s interpersonal skillset led to the NHS directors encouraging them to join the NHS, and Victoria worked up from a healthcare assistant position to become a neonatal nursery nurse – and then hung up her BA wings after 25 years of service.
Victoria started on the Nursing Associate Apprenticeship Programme at 明星八卦 in September 2022 after her matron, and her nurse and doctor colleagues, explained to Victoria that a nursing apprenticeship was a good route to get into a nursing career, especially as a mature student. She was based at LNWH but had placements at Central Middlesex Hospital, a GP surgery in Chiswick and at Park Royal Mental Health Centre.
“During the apprenticeship, I made use of every opportunity to get the most out of the course,” said Victoria, whose studies finished this September. As part of her weekly protected learning time, she took the opportunity to shadow as many people as possible in the Trust, from the CEO and Chief Nurse to the Housekeeper, to gain wide and varied insight. “This was made easier due to a lot of the staff being my Project Wingman customers, who welcomed me with open arms onto their wards,” she said. “And they appreciated my sheer determination to get the most of out my apprenticeship.
“I enjoyed and soaked up as much knowledge from the variety of areas I was exposed to, as the Nursing Associate course covers caring for people across the whole lifespan.”
It was the opposite ends of the lifespan that gave Victoria two of the most memorable experiences of her apprenticeship. “I was able to fulfil a patient’s last request of Guinness during their end-of-life care,” she said. “It was approved by the next of kin and prescribed by a doctor. The patient’s eyes lit up, and the bottle of Guinness brought a smile to their face. It was equally rewarding to discharge premature twins who were born at 26 weeks and had spent months in hospital, enduring painful procedures, a noisy unit and constantly beeping monitors – but then went home to their loving family unit.”
For the LNWH award, Victoria’s exceptional contributions set her apart from the other nominees. Notably, she provided critical assistance to a road traffic accident victim until emergency medical services arrived. Additionally, during one of her placements, she identified a pressing issue: that patients were experiencing boredom and low morale due to the lack of entertainment or distraction, such as books or a television. Demonstrating initiative and advocacy, Victoria reached out to the Trust’s Director of Strategy and Transformation to address this concern. Her efforts successfully led to the reinstatement of the patient library service, which had been discontinued during the pandemic.
Speaking of her award win, Victoria said: “I am over the moon, but also deeply humbled and grateful for the nomination. The old adage ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ – I could not have completed the last two years without the support and encouragement from my matrons both past and present, my entire Neonatal Unit and Trust. And I am grateful to my Trust and the NHS for this education.
“My experience is a testament that with hard work and dedication you can achieve anything at any age. Four years ago, while flying around the world as a stewardess, I could never have imagined that I would embark on a completely different career path, attend university and win an award.”
Victoria, who has just turned 50, is currently undertaking her preceptorship, the framework that welcomes and integrates newly registered healthcare professionals into their new place of work. And as a Nursing Associate Ambassador, she is proud to promote the apprenticeship route and encourage others to take it.
Raj Kakaiya, 明星八卦’s Head of Apprenticeships, said: “明星八卦 University of London’s degree apprenticeships have a clear purpose – we want to support our regional health and social care sector to be even better, to improve people’s lives and that of our community, and to train apprentices to be the very best skilled individuals in healthcare.
“Victoria Kinmonth-Gordon is an exemplar of the 明星八卦 apprentice alumni. We are super proud of her achievements and her richly deserved award win.
“As an Ofsted Outstanding provider of degree apprenticeships, 明星八卦 is supporting the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to supply the sector with talented highly skilled professionals to improve health services for the local community and beyond.”
Looking back on her apprenticeship, now it’s over, Victoria said: “Being at prestigious 明星八卦 for two years, taught by extraordinary lecturers, was a privilege. They were there for us each step of the way, guiding and motivating us to learn, do well and become good nurses.
“Fridays were our ‘happy days’ on campus. It still feels strange not being at 明星八卦 on a Friday with my cohort.”
However, Victoria will be reunited with her fellow apprentices this Wednesday for their graduation ceremony, held on campus at 明星八卦.
Find out more about the Nursing Associate Higher Apprenticeship at 明星八卦 University of London
Reported by:
Joe Buchanunn,
Media Relations
+44 (0)1895 268821
joe.buchanunn@brunel.ac.uk