Edinburgh Napier nurses centre stage with Trisha’s cracking play

Trisha Jeram has been shortlisted for Most Inspirational Student Nurse of the Year for her work creating the play, Cracks.

Cracks tells the story of Bob and ­Debbie, whose lives gradually interweave to show stark differences in health ­outcomes due to unequal access to health and social care services.

Written and directed by Trisha, a third year Masters in Nursing ­student, Cracks stars a volunteer cast of ­amateur actors including nursing students, community actors and staff from the School of Health & Social Care.

Student nurse actor Siobhan Bourke said: “Trisha is a huge inspiration and an amazing person all round. If you bring your idea to the right people, in this case the lecturers at Edinburgh Napier University, it can reach its potential.”

Film studies students from Edinburgh Napier’s School of Arts & ­Creative Industries have also ­produced a film of Cracks, which is now part of an undergraduate ­nursing course on health and social care integration.

It is for this use of drama in ­nursing education that a team of School of Health & Social Care staff – including Catherine Mahoney, Fiona Bastow, Bruce Harper-McDonald, and Richard Kyle – were shortlisted in a ­second category, Teaching Innovation of the Year.

Using drama has helped students to understand the complexity and reality of health and social care integration. Ongoing research led by the Cracks team is evaluating the impact that using drama has on ­students’ learning.

Student nurse actor Nicola ­Jamieson said: “Cracks has been really good at generating discussion. Interagency working and integration don’t sound like the most interesting topics but the film has given them a human face with Debbie and Bob.”

Cracks was performed live at ­Summerhall in Edinburgh to a ­public audience in June last year, using a novel combination of live action and recorded footage from the film.

Professor Alyson Tobin, vice-principal of learning and teaching at ­Edinburgh Napier, said: “I’m ­absolutely delighted that Trisha and colleagues have been shortlisted for these prestigious awards.

“Trisha’s nomination will inspire others to pursue their own passions to support student learning. I wish her and my colleagues in the cchool every success on awards night.”

The winners of the Student Nursing Times Awards will be announced at a special ceremony in London on 24 April.