The Nursing and Health Care School’s Annual McGirr lecture took place on Friday 11th October. This was the first time that the event was held as a hybrid event, which gave us the opportunity to host our colleagues and students in Singapore.

Professor Edward McCombie McGirr held the Muirhead Chair of Medicine in the University of Glasgow from 1961 until he retired in 1981. From 1974 he was also the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. He was an accomplished physician and academic of national renown and was awarded a CBE in 1978. It was Professor McGirr’s support for nursing that led to the establishment of The Nursing & Midwifery School in 1978, which later changed its name to The Nursing & Health Care School.

The McGirr family have continued to support the School in many ways, including provision of the McGirr Prize, which is awarded at graduation.

In recognition of the family’s contribution, the Annual McGirr Lecture was established in 2003. The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for students across all years of the Bachelor of Nursing Honours Degree programme to meet other students, staff and guests, including representatives of the McGirr family.

This year, we welcomed our Guest Speaker Dr Heather Baid. Dr Heather Baid is a registered nurse specialising in intensive care who works as a Principal Lecturer at the University of Brighton. She has a keen interest in sustainability issues, including reducing the environmental footprint of healthcare with financial and social co-benefits.

Currently, Heather is leading a collaborative national project with the Intensive Care Society, Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine and UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance to develop an Intensive Care Environmental Sustainability Recipe Book for UK intensive care units.

Heather has led and partnered in several research studies and quality improvement projects on delivering environmentally sustainable healthcare while maintaining safe, high-quality, patient-centred care. 

She has also facilitated sustainability to be embedded into several healthcare courses and leads the organising of the annual SHARE conference (Sustainable Healthcare Academic Research and Enterprise). 

Laura Connelly and Naomi Coyle, two fourth year students, discussed their experiences of peer teaching and supporting transitions on the BN programme.

Continuing our student presentations were Grace Wong Enwei and Esmond Tan En Hao, who discussed their very positive reflections on the Overseas Immersion Programme which took place in July.

Our thanks go out to all of our speakers, staff and students who attended either in person or on Zoom, and the McGirr family for their continuous support over the years.

Here’s to next year!

First published: 11 October 2024

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