A 48-YEAR-OLD nursing student from Pontypool who left school with no qualifications has shared her story hoping to inspire others not to give up on learning.

Lianne Illman is currently studying for a Masters in Community Health Studies at University of South Wales, and even won the Inspirational Post Registration Student of the Year award at this year’s Excellence Awards, held by USW’s School of Care Sciences.

Speaking about her way into nursing, Mrs Illman said: “I was a bit of a rebel when I was in school, so never really took it seriously and didn’t pass any exams.

“After leaving school I did numerous jobs, but when I worked as a care assistant in a nursing home, I loved it.

“At that time I was very quiet, hadn’t learned to drive, so I wanted to get a little bit more life experience and I knew I was going to go and do my nursing at some time, but didn’t quite know when, so it was a gradual process for a couple of years from when I was 24.”

After taking a part-time college course to get her English GCSE, Mrs Illman took up a two-year preliminary nursing course in Newport, before signing up for a diploma in nursing in Cardiff in 2000.

Having completed her two-year diploma, Mrs Illman initially worked on the wards. She left when she became a mum 15 years ago, instead taking up bank nursing to fit her job around childcare.

When she returned to work full time 11 years ago, she started a new role in the community nursing team in Torfaen.

Having become deputy manager of the district nursing team, Mrs Illman decided that she wanted to study for a Masters degree, and started at USW in 2019.

“In the district team you are more of an autonomous practitioner, you have to think outside the box a lot, do lots of forward planning and forward thinking,” she said.

“Because I’ve got experience in community nursing, the Masters has consolidated this. It’s taken me up to the next level and given me a bigger and wider picture and allowed me to gain the academic knowledge that I can now visually see when I’m in my role. It made it all more grounded – put all the pieces together.”

Mrs Illman said her studies have positively impacted on her own family, and hoped her story – which she has shared as part of International Nurses Day (May 12) – can inspire others to consider not giving up on learning.

“As a family we’ve all pulled together to enable me to manage my study while also working,” she said.

“I think it’s very good for my daughter too, because it shows her that learning is lifelong. I’m very fortunate in the fact that she loves school, and she’s a very good worker herself, and she is thrilled that I’m doing my Masters.

“It’s brilliant, inspirational for the children, because they can see they can stretch for that, and see they can do it too, whatever you’ve achieved in the past.”