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Sharing the best of global teaching and learning in healthcare at NET 2019

26 Jul 2019 | Kayleigh McElderry-Wilkinson Kayleigh McElderry-Wilkinson is an undergraduate Adult Nurse at Northumbria University. Here, she explains her role as a member of the Student Blog Squad at the NET Conference 2019.

2019 marks the 30th anniversary of NET, the leading annual international networking in healthcare education conference. Over three days, from 3-5 September, delegates will hear from practitioners, educators and researchers.

Following my attendance as a guest presenter at the 2018 event hosted in Cambridge, I was subsequently asked if I would be keen to return to the event as student ambassador for Northumbria University, as part of the Blog Squad. During the conference I am looking forward to engaging with academics and delegates from other higher education institutions and showcasing their work and research online and via social media platforms.

Some of the themes this year focus heavily on the development of healthcare education and clinical practice. In preparation for this I have offered my input from a student nurse (adult branch) perspective in curriculum development events held at Northumbria University alongside other students, academics and service users/experts by experience. The NET conference provides an excellent opportunity to share innovative ideas and best practice that I am confident will positively impact the future of healthcare education. I look forward to returning to my university after this event and sharing some of the ideas I have heard.

I take great interest in student engagement and for the last two years at Northumbria I have represented students from the department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health and the Faculty of Health and Life Science respectively. I am always eager to hear experiences of other student representatives and academics from other universities and how they engage their students, overcome barriers and improve the student experience.

The NET conference is a fantastic opportunity to see how interprofessionalism can enhance learning and partnership amongst healthcare professionals. In 2018 I established the Interprofessional Learning Society with Northumbria Students’ Union, the first of its kind we believe, nationally. Over the next academic year (2019 - 2020) I hope to campaign further to develop good working relationships between students from different healthcare disciplines and set a good standard for clinical practice in preparation for registration to respective regulatory bodies. With that in mind, I look forward to hearing from delegates about their experiences with interprofessional learning and working.

I was pleased to see that simulation to enhance learning will feature as one of this year’s themes. Just recently, Northumbria University hosted Thai delegates and our academic staff introduced them to simulation-based learning. I was fortunate enough to be able to take part in some of these scenarios which allowed our delegates to see how beneficial immersive learning is in allowing students to take part in and reflect on true to life scenarios in an environment where feedback is provided during participation.

I hope you are looking forward to this year’s conference at Keele University and are able to make the most of being in an environment which facilitates sharing of knowledge and research.  I hope you leave inspired to put innovative ideas into practice which will develop our future healthcare workforce.

Find out more about NET 2019 and book your place

Kayleigh McElderry-Wilkinson is an undergraduate Adult Nurse at Northumbria University. She is former lead representative for the HLS Faculty at the university and President of the IPL Society at Northumbria Students’ Union. 

Follow @KMWilkinsonStN on Twitter during #NETConf19

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