{"id":129801,"date":"2025-09-11T11:40:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T11:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/129801\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T11:40:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T11:40:18","slug":"oswestry-mum-who-cared-for-seriously-ill-daughter-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/129801\/","title":{"rendered":"Oswestry mum who cared for seriously ill daughter graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Clare Lewis has achieved a Higher Apprenticeship FdSc Nursing Associate<\/a> (NA) award from the University of Chester, and been recognised with both national and faculty awards for her care and commitment.\n<\/p>\n

\n Clare, from Oswestry, Shropshire, has also earned wholehearted praise from her tutors for her remarkable resilience to complete her studies, as well as from patients and colleagues for the extraordinary impact she has made.\n<\/p>\n

\n Both now having made full recoveries; during Clare\u2019s first year of study, her daughter was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and required surgery, and her mother suffered a transient ischaemic attack – also referred to as a mini stroke – and was admitted to hospital for ongoing care.\n<\/p>\n

\n In the second year of the two-year course, the family faced more difficult times as Clare\u2019s mother-in-law, whom the family had cared for, passed away.\n<\/p>\n

\n With support from family, friends, co-workers, the university and fellow students, Clare did not defer her studies and continued in her theatre role and care of patients at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt (RJAH) Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, all while caring for her family members.\n<\/p>\n

\n Despite all she faced, Clare excelled in her programme and led the way as one of the first to study the course within the area of theatres.\n<\/p>\n

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\n After receiving heartfelt feedback from a grateful patient, she was also awarded a prestigious Cavell Star Award.\n<\/p>\n

\n The national award celebrates nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers who go above and beyond for their colleagues and patients. Another accolade followed when Clare received the Valedictory Award for Practice from the university\u2019s Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society.\n<\/p>\n

\n She said: \u201cI was shocked to be given the Cavell Star Award, as I never felt I had done anything extraordinary, I\u2019ve always simply treated patients with respect, dignity, kindness, and understanding.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cSimilarly, I read the email on the Valedictory Award in disbelief. Even now, I don\u2019t feel I deserved these awards; I was just being myself, trying to complete the course while supporting and being supported by others.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Clare shared that there were times when she thought she may not be able to complete the apprenticeship programme, but that the support from others was vital in spurring her on.\n<\/p>\n

\n She said: \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy; there have been many challenges, and I questioned whether I could continue with my studies.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhile I had the option to defer, the decision was mine. I knew my family needed me more than ever, but I was also deeply committed to my studies.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I wasn\u2019t sure I would succeed, but I was determined to try. With everyone\u2019s encouragement and support, I found the strength to persevere. I remained focused on my goals, driven by the desire to make both my family and myself proud.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWithout the constant love, support, and understanding of my husband, both my daughters, and my son I couldn\u2019t have completed this course.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Likewise, from the very beginning, the support from the University and the theatre managers has been outstanding – and crucial. Initially,\n<\/p>\n

\n “I was concerned about sharing my difficulties, however, once I opened up, I was met with understanding, guidance, and ongoing support from lecturers, colleagues and fellow students.\n<\/p>\n

\n “My amazing fellow students started as strangers, but I now consider them friends.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt takes time, commitment, and perseverance, especially during difficult moments, and I\u2019m so grateful to have had the support of everyone to make this achievement possible.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Reflecting on the initial decision to embark on the course at the age of 44, she added: \u201cI spent my earlier years raising my three children alongside my husband, dedicating myself fully to my family. For over a decade, I worked as a support worker before moving into my current role within the theatre department at my local NHS trust. After more than a year in this role, an opportunity arose to apply for an apprenticeship.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Dr Katie Mansfield-Loynes, programme leader, said: said: \u201cClare\u2019s care and compassion have been unwavering as her confidence and list of accomplishments has grown.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cShe is incredibly modest, selfless and a very deserving winner of the awards she has been selected for; we wish her all the best in her next steps upon graduating.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n On the future, Clare said: \u201cAchieving this qualification has allowed me to officially register as a NA and continue developing in my role within theatres. My next goal is to progress to become a Registered Nurse in the future, building on everything I have learned so far.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clare Lewis has achieved a Higher Apprenticeship FdSc Nursing Associate (NA) award from the University of Chester, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-129801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}