Exmouth School decorates nursing HQ

WHAT started life as a visit to the regional nursing HQ by Brixington Primary could now be rolled out across the country from next year as a national day of nursing for schools.

All 480 pupils at the Exmouth school were invited to The Royal College of Nursing’s Sowton-based HQ by their regional officer and Brixington school governor Helen Hancox.

The children, in groups or individually, produced 50 drawings or paintings to adorn the walls of the RCN’s regional base on national nursing day, Florence Nightingale’s birthday.

The children got to learn about the social history of nursing in Britain and what it would mean if they chose the profession as a career path.

Helen said: “To be honest it started off as a way to get some nice pictures to decorate the walls in our offices.

“We also wanted to give the children a better understanding of nursing and to dispel some of the preconceptions they may have had.

“They learned about nursing’s social history about figures like Florence Nightingale and Mary Secole

“We wanted to try and plant the seed in their minds from a young age and some hopefully will start thinking that they would like to take up nursing as a career in the future.

“We both came away happy – we got some great pictures and they got to learn a little more about what nurses do.

“And from next year the Royal College of Nursing will be doing this with schools across the country.”