Kirsten joins the casualty frontline

BBC One children’s television presenter Kirsten O’Brien will enter the hectic environment of a hospital Accident & Emergency (A& E) ward next week. However, Kirsten’s visit to the University of Teesside’s School of Health Centuria building on Thursday 7 June at 11.30am is purely in a presenter’s role, as she is fronting the School’s new nursing and midwifery video.

Kirsten, who is originally from Middlesbrough, will be filmed wearing operating theatre clothes, accompanied by an A&E team in a scenario which shows a team working together with a patient, each undertaking a complex task. Kirsten will then turn to camera and ask the audience which one they think is the nurse. The answer will be ‘all of them’. This opening image in the video sets the scene of nursing and midwifery being highly skilled professions. There will be an opportunity to photograph Kirsten on Thursday 7 June at 11.30am in Nursing Laboratory H2.02 on the Second floor of the University’s Centuria Building, off Victoria Road, Middlesbrough.

Kirsten has also filmed in local hospitals as part of the video, which is part of the national ‘Making a Difference’ initiative. ‘Making a Difference’ is a flexible and family friendly approach to nursing and midwifery education. The University of Teesside is one of 16 UK Universities to pioneer this initiative, which aims to attract young and mature applicants to the profession by providing a range of features, including family friendly hours of tuition and a greater emphasis on developing skills in practice placements. The video will be available free to local schools and colleges.

Phil Mason, Manager of the School of Health’s Admissions and Student Records said: “Kirsten is ideal for our video as she is from the local area with a friendly, outgoing personality which is appropriate to the subject matter. The video will display the four nursing pathways of adult, child, mental health and learning disabilities nursing, plus the midwifery profession. It will also show the realistic face of being a professional and a student”.

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