October is Black History Month and with that in mind we
have chosen Elizabeth Anionwu as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.
Elizabeth was inspired to become a nurse at the young age
of four because, whilst a ‘wonderful nursing nun’ treated her childhood eczema
in an expert and sensitive manner.
Elizabeth has put in a substantial amount of her life into
her work as a nurse, health visitor and tutor working with black and minority
ethnic communities in London and in 1979 helped to establish the first
nurse-led UK Sickle & Thalassaemia Screening and Counselling Centre. She has
chaired several projects for the NHS Sickle and Thalassaemia Screening
Programme and in 2004 she was presented with the Royal College of Nursing
Fellowship (FRCN) for her work in the development of nurse-led sickle cell and
thalassaemia counselling services and education and leadership in transcultural
nursing.
In 1988 she was awarded a PhD from the Institute of
Education, University College London and from 1990-1997 she worked at the
Institute of Child Health, UCL as a Lecturer then Senior Lecturer in Community
Genetic Counselling. She has written extensively and is a co-author of the book
‘The Politics of Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia’ published in 2001.
In 1997 Elizabeth was appointed as Dean of the School of
Adult Nursing and Professor of Nursing at the University of West London and in
1999 she established and was Head of the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice
until her retirement in 2007. The university then honoured her with the
award of Emeritus Professor of Nursing. In 2001 she was awarded a CBE for
services to nursing.
Elizabeth was vice-chairperson of the Mary Seacole
Memorial Statue Appeal from its launch in November 2003. The statue was
unveiled in the grounds of St Thomas’ Hospital in June 2016 and Elizabeth is
now a Life Patron of the new charity, the Mary Seacole Trust.
She was honoured with a Damehood in the 2017 for her
services to nursing and the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal. The Queen’s Nursing
Institute awarded her a Fellowship (FQNI) in October 2017. In July
2018, as part of the celebrations for the 70th Anniversary of the National
Health Service, Elizabeth was included in the list of the 70 most
influential nurses and midwives in the history of the NHS.
She is a Patron of the Sickle Cell Society, the Nigerian
Nurses Charitable Association (UK) and the Sickle & Thalassaemia
Association of Nurses, Midwives & Associated Professionals (STANMAP).
To find out more about Elizabeth see here http://www.elizabethanionwu.co.uk/about-me/
To
find out more about Black History Month see here https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/