Rachel Donnelly
Specialist Public Health Nurse (School Nurse) PgDip degree apprentice, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
LGBTQIA+ Empowerment and nursing excellence: Rachel’s apprenticeship story
Meet Rachel Donnelly, a Specialist Public Health Nurse postgraduate apprentice who has recently been named SAPHNA School Nurse Student of the Year 2023. This prestigious national award, decided by the School and Public Health Nurse Association (SAPHNA), celebrates the role of student school nurses by inviting submissions for an innovation in practice, aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people, reducing health inequalities.
The accolade was awarded to Rachel in recognition of her ‘empowering populations to enhance health and wellbeing’ project, which addressed the unmet health needs of LGBTQIA+ young people.
Discover Rachel Donnelly’s remarkable journey as she became a school nurse and developed a pioneering project that made a significant impact on young people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Her story is not only one of professional success but also a testament to the transformative power of dedication, innovation, and community support.
Becoming a School Nurse
I always wanted to be a nurse, though I came to nursing quite late as I had my family first. I went back to college and did the Access to Higher Education course, followed by my nursing degree.
I’ve worked for Stockport NHS Foundation Trust since I qualified – almost four years. I initially worked on a general paediatric ward at Stepping Hill. I enjoyed the job, but I wanted a role where I could truly make a difference, reduce health inequalities, and impact the lives of children and young people.
I applied for a staff nurse role in the school nursing team and did that for nine months. Then this job came up and I knew that school nursing was where I wanted to be. I absolutely love it.
I think there’s a common misconception that school nurses are just a nit nurse, or just give vaccines but they can really make a difference to children and young people.
At a drop-in clinic in a school, you can see all sorts of different cases. You have to keep your knowledge really current. I think the value of the school nurse is massive and we should be shouting it from the rooftops.
Creating Change: Empowerment Project on the LGBTQIA+ community
I was supporting a transgender young person and my supervisor informed me that there weren’t any resources for us to look at, or any to signpost the young person to – which was a real challenge. The experience the students are getting varies hugely depending on the school nurse’s knowledge.
When it came to choosing a public health need for our empowerment project, I knew that LGBTQIA+ young people are at massive risk of health inequalities.
They often don’t seek support and advice from healthcare professionals for fear of discrimination. I thought, if we can change that perception while they’re in their teenage years, or younger, then we create healthy habits for life.
If we could create a more inclusive service where they are getting good quality care and advice, we could make a huge difference.
I worked with a high school that had a LGBTQIA+ support group, and generally had a fantastic, inclusive environment. I explained the role of the school nurse role to the group and outlined my project idea. I then went back several times and completed focus groups to find out what they really wanted from their school nurse. Often it was just someone to talk to.
We support a young man who’s gay but hasn’t come out to anybody, so he hasn’t got anyone to talk to. So, he comes to see us every few weeks for a chat. That’s all he needs from us.
As nurses, we want to fix people and make them better, but actually, these young people don’t need fixing. There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re not broken, they’re not unwell, they’re just right.
Since holding these focus groups we’ve raised the profile of school nursing and we have more young people coming to the drop-in sessions than we did before.
We decided we needed a toolkit, and they told me exactly what they wanted in it. I put it together and they made changes. Teenagers will just tell you how it is, and it was fantastic to get that brutally honest feedback. It meant that it was tailored to be exactly what they wanted and needed.
I don’t have any lived experience of being LGBTQIA+, I didn’t understand the complexities, so it was important to me that the students shaped the toolkit. The project made a huge difference to Stockport’s school nurses. It’s really changed how they’re supporting young people.
The impact of Rachel’s project and award nomination
I’m working with Workforce Development at Stockport local authority who are delivering training to foster carers and members of staff from Stockport Council. I’m going along to the sessions, and we’ll be rolling the toolkit out to them as well. It’s also been picked up by SAPHNA and their special interest group for LGBTQIA+.
Parts of my project are being used in a national toolkit that’s being developed for release after Christmas and will be made available to school nurses across the UK.
For the School and Public Health Nurse Association Award, I had to enter with a poster and a 350-word abstract about my project. It was a national competition, so I’m really proud to have been chosen as the School Nurse Student of the Year 2023.
Skills and knowledge gained on the apprenticeship
Without the Level 7 Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) apprenticeship and the apprenticeship team, there’s no way I would have been able to do this Empowerment Project. I wouldn’t have known where to start.
At the beginning of the process, I thought “this isn’t going to make any difference, what’s me doing this little project going to do?”. But it’s had a huge impact and I think I underestimated just how much of a difference it could make.
We’re all learning from each other. It was great to see everybody else’s projects and implement some of the ideas into our own practice.
In future, if I identify another resource that we need, I’ll have a process to follow. I know it could be successful, and that it will be worth the time because of the impact it could have.
Managing the challenges of returning to education
I had a massive wobble in April. I didn’t want to do the course anymore, but the academic team were incredible. There is wrap-around support from both the placement and the university, and from my fellow apprentices, and it made a huge difference.
There are loads of support, including things like study skills. As a mature student and someone who doesn’t find the academic stuff easy, it’s been really useful having all those tools available at university.
We also had a fantastic group of apprentices. A great mix of people and backgrounds – just really supportive, kind people and that’s been a massive part of the journey. Having people who are going through something similar and having peer support is really useful. I’m glad I saw it through to the end.
Reflecting on the apprenticeship experience
I would definitely recommend it. I really enjoyed it. When you’re in the thick of it, it can seem overwhelming, and I think it’s about finding your ways of coping with stress. I didn’t really have any, but I’ve now taken up gardening, growing my own fruit and vegetables, and it’s been a really good way of giving myself some time.
The team are brilliant, my skills coach was fantastic. There are lots of opportunities to raise any concerns. Everybody worked so well together. It’s a fantastic example of that sort of partnership, working to get the best from everybody.