A nurse from Morecambe has celebrated a double win at the national student nursing awards.
Cherish Otoo was awarded Most Inspirational Student of the Year and won the Mary Seacole Award for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity and Inclusion at the 2022 Student Nursing Times Awards.
Cherish's win was announced at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Friday.
The awards ceremony, which honours the achievements of student nurses and nurse educators, celebrates its 11th anniversary this year.
Cherish, a a newly-qualified nurse at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, was described by judges as “an exceptional and inspirational nurse trailblazer” who “emanates a modern-day Mary Seacole in every sense of the word”.
She was said to have made an exceptional contribution to diversity and inclusion, with a “courage and enthusiasm to tackle the challenges faced by (minority ethnic) colleagues at both a student and executive level”.
Mary Seacole was a pioneering nurse from Jamaica who cared for British soldiers at the battlefront during the Crimean War.
Cherish, who had previously worked for the Morecambe Bay health trust in a non-clinical role, was one of the first people in the UK to enrol and qualify as a nurse through the University of Cumbria’s Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship programme, which was the first of its kind in the country when it launched in 2018.
On graduating, Cherish secured a nursing role at the RLI’s Emergency Department.
Related story: Morecambe nurse shortlisted for two top awards - Beyond Radio


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