Chancellor sees "extraordinary" health students in action

LJMU Chancellor, Nisha Katona MBE, dropped in for a visit to the Faculty of Health and was moved by the “extraordinary students” that she spoke with and learnt new skills from.

Nisha met with nursing, midwifery, paramedic science and psychology students who are preparing to embark upon “selfless careers” in the NHS and other healthcare settings. 

Nisha was guided around LJMU’s state-of-the-art simulation suites, starting with one of the university’s ambulance simulation rooms. A group of second year paramedic science students demonstrated an automated CPR machine and told Nisha that they wanted to study to become paramedics so that they could “help people in their time of need”.

Nisha said: “What I love most about these trips is meeting the students and seeing their level of enthusiasm, and how proud they are about the course they are about to embark on.

“My high point was meeting the paramedics…they are those people in shining armour that come and just save you from that lowest point, and seeing those youngsters that are embarking on such selfless careers, I found it really moving.”

Midwifery students showcased another simulation environment where a specially designed medical training manikin can be programmed to give birth, offering students a close to real-world experience that prepares them for the rigours of real practice during their placements on labour wards.

Nisha also visited a series of clinical practice suites and a simulated intensive care unit, learning how to apply a tourniquet and how to draw blood, with current nursing students showcasing the skills they’ve learned from their dedicated teaching staff, many of whom have extensive NHS experience and continue to practice locally alongside teaching.

Staff and students from the School of Psychology shared demonstrations of stimulation devices that are used to strengthen research and understanding in brain and behavioural sciences.  

Nisha added: “These students are extraordinary. They will go out there and they save people, and they carry with them that enthusiasm that they had from day one of getting into uni, right the way through, and that’s down to the way that they’re taught.”

During her visit Nisha learnt some potentially lifesaving skills as students and staff taught her how to safely carry out abdominal thrusts, a first aid technique used when people are choking, something that’s particularly pertinent as a restauranteur herself.

There were also moments to learn more about the work of academics and researchers from LJMU’s Public Health Institute and the innovative research taking place across the faculty. From developing intelligence and surveillance systems that track and monitor things like drug and alcohol related deaths to tackling infectious diseases across the globe.  

Rounding off the visit, Nisha also sat down with the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Health, Professor Raphaela Kane; the Director of the School of Nursing and Advanced Practice, Dr Julie Williams; the Director of the School of Psychology, Professor Helen Poole; the Director of Research and Innovation for the Faculty of Health, Professor Mark Bellis; and Dr Sean MacKay, Director of the School of Public and Allied Health, for roundtable discussions with a group of current students. 

About the Faculty of Health  

Today more than 5,000 students study every year with the School of Nursing and Advanced Practice, the School of Public and Allied Health, the School of Psychology and with the Public Health Institute, as part of LJMU’s mission to produce the best nurses, midwives, paramedics and public health professionals in the UK, alongside pioneering research.

You can find out more about LJMU’s Faculty of Health and search through our health related courses online. 

About LJMU Chancellor Nisha Katona MBE

Nisha returns to campus regularly in her role as Chancellor to meet with students and staff, taking great interest in the activities of students and the progress of the university.

Nisha became LJMU Chancellor in January 2022, becoming the first alumni chancellor of the university.

She graduated with a law degree in 1995 and went on to work as a Barrister for 20 years before setting up her own business, Mowgli, one of the fastest growing restaurant movements in the country.

Nisha has delivered her own Roscoe Lecture and is featured in LJMU 200 People, part of our Bicentenary celebrations and an online repository, where we shine a light on 200 of the many thousands of outstanding people, from the earliest days of the Mechanics’ Institute in 1823, up to this very moment, who have shaped and been shaped by this university.