Sheila Burns ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø Global Health graduate appointed as Director of Nursing in USA
A graduate from the Institute for Global Health & Development (IGHD) at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø University (ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø) has been appointed as Director of Nursing at Guilford County Jails in North Carolina, USA.
Sheila Burns, who is originally from Linlithgow, graduated with an MSc Global Health Systems from ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø in 2016. She was able to study part-time at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø over three and a half years, whilst bringing up a young family and balancing the demands of her full-time job.
Sheila achieved a Bachelor of Nursing degree from the University of Glasgow in 1993 and had over five years experience working in nursing for the prison system in Scotland before starting her postgraduate studies at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø.
Sheila’s significant professional experience, as well as the knowledge acquired studying global health at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø, has equipped her with the skills and confidence to help vulnerable prisoners across three different locations in North Carolina. She is now putting her dissertation topic ‘health systems and prisons’ into practice by helping over 1,350 inmates, including those in a juvenile detention centre.
Commenting on her experience of studying global health at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø, Sheila said: “I really wish I’d taken the plunge 10 years ago and signed up to study global health at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø. My dream of living and working in the USA and improving my employability in the prisoner health sector has finally become a reality.
“By choosing to study at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø, I really wanted to expand my knowledge of health economics and systems, as well as sociological influences. While researching different courses available, I found that ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø had the exact mix of subjects that interested me. The course also offered a great selection of modules that I hoped would open doors to a different type of career.
“There was so much support offered at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø, which made the course so much more manageable. The other students also offered an invaluable supportive network, which was positively encouraged by the staff.
“Being surrounded by students from all over the world made a massive impact on how I viewed what I was doing with my life. Studying global health at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø has equipped me in many ways I didn’t realise were possible. My knowledge level and appreciation of global health issues have expanded beyond anything I could have imagined beforehand.â€
In the future, Sheila wants to continue advocating for best practice in care for prisoners in the USA. She has also started to make connections with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University to encourage further prisoner health research.
Institute for Global Health & Development (IGHD)
Visit the Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD) at ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø for more information and postgraduate study opportunities.
For further media information contact Lynne Russell, Marketing Manager, ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø University, Edinburgh, E: lrussell@qmu.ac.uk T: 0131 474 0000, M: 07711 011239 and Jon Perkins, Press and PR Officer, E: jperkins@qmu.ac.uk T: 0131 474 0000.
