Droylsden district nurse gets first-class degree and top award

Leanne Morgan said it was "so special to get an award for doing something I love"

A district nurse who gained a first-class honours degree while caring for patients during the pandemic hopes it "inspires" her children and others.

Leanne Morgan, 35, also received the student of the year accolade from The Queen's Nursing Institute.

Cramming a community health degree into nine months had its "challenges", including remote learning, she said.

Ms Morgan, from Droylsden in Greater Manchester, said it was "special to get an award for doing something I love".

She said she was "really shocked" to get a first-class degree from Manchester Metropolitan University and then to receive the Queen's Nursing Institute's award "made it even sweeter".

"Not for one minute did I expect to get a first," she said.

"It is 10 years since I did any intense academic study.

"It was very different when I did my adult nursing degree, I was a full-time student and had one child.

"This time I was working three days a week and I now have two children."

Ms Morgan, who has been a district nurse for 12 years, said the coronavirus pandemic meant juggling work and family life with virtual lectures, but said she "got through it".

Seeing her sons faces at her graduation ceremony was a "special moment", Ms Morgan said

Ms Morgan, who is a specialist community practitioner at Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, said nursing "was always something I wanted to do, particularly district nursing".

"It is a ward without walls and no two days are the same," she added.

"It really is a privilege to be invited into people's homes and care for them, particularly patients receiving end of life care."

She said her patients and colleagues were "very proud" of her achievements.

Ms Morgan said seeing the faces of her husband Simon and two sons, aged six and 17, at the graduation ceremony in Bridgewater Hall in Manchester last week was a "very special moment".

"I hope it inspires my sons that they can overcome difficulties if they put their mind to it," she added.

Emma Frain, matron for the Tameside trust's district nursing service, said the award was "very well deserved".

"To be a good district nurse you have to be well organised, confident and able to take responsibility in difficult situations," she said.

"Leanne is all those things and more."

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