Radiography students in the north-west are being recruited to join a programme which takes the most innovative and motivated healthcare students to lead quality improvement projects.
"Leadership is an essential element of radiography practice, due to very nature of having to manage complex situations, often independently," commented Yvette Heatley, a lecturer at the University of Chester and Student Quality Ambassador (SQA) project lead.
"Mercer, Haddon & Loughlin(2018) mused that leadership is an essential part of the undergraduate curriculum for healthcare students. However, can leadership be taught or does it have to be experienced to be effectively learnt by the individual?" she continued.
"The unique experience of Covid-19 and student radiographers finding themselves part of the workforce as Health Education England rolled-out emergency NHS contracts, meant that students were able to demonstrate leadership in relation to decision-making and service provision.
"As students experience a variety of placements throughout their training, their broad view of different clinical settings and teams enables them to identify areas for quality improvement and their voice should be heard at a strategic level."
Some SQAs focus their quality improvement projects where they see an opportunity for change. Students are also encouraged to get involved with existing projects when on placement.
