The event that would ultimately shape Njideka E Aniagolu’s life happened when she was just three years old: her mother died while giving birth to Aniagolu’s younger brother.
“I lost my mum when I was too young to understand why,” says Aniagolu, who was born and raised in Nigeria. It was only as she got older that Aniagolu understood the circumstances of her mother’s death. “She died of postpartum haemorrhage [excessive bleeding after childbirth] and as I got to understand the reason she passed, I realised if better healthcare had been available, her death could have been prevented. She could have been OK. When I learned this, it inspired me to go into a career where I could help others.”
Aniagolu is now a second-year adult nursing student at the University of Essex and has been named as one of the eight student editors of the Nursing Times for 2025-26, who bring the voice of students to the publication. “I’ve always had a passion for healthcare,” she says. “When I spoke to one of my aunts she suggested I try nursing, which prompted me to go into midwifery back home in Nigeria, where I became a registered midwife.”
She then made the decision to come to the UK to study for an adult nursing degree at the University of Essex . She was drawn to the university for a number of reasons: its reputation for diversity and inclusion, its emphasis on student employability and access to free language lessons, to name a few. The fact that Essex is highly rated for nursing – ranking 6th for the subject in The Guardian University Guide 2026 – clinched the deal.
“Becoming an international student has been an interesting journey and transitioning from Nigerian to British healthcare was quite a culture shock,” she says.
“There’s a different system here in the UK; one of the interesting things I noticed about British healthcare was the palliative [end of life] care and hospices on offer. Back home we don’t have anything like this because families care for loved ones at the end of their life, and they die at home.
“When I started working as a midwife back home, we also did something that roughly translates as ‘giving back to the community’, where you go to remote areas of the community to help others. Many of the people we met believed in giving birth at home, but in some of the cases we saw, if the mothers had received medical care sooner, outcomes could have been different.”
Aniagolu says the different experiences and perspectives that come with studying alongside students from other parts of the world means they learn so much from each other. It’s part of what drew her to the University of Essex, which has students from more than 140 countries, with a longstanding reputation for championing diversity. Having been listed in the Guardian’s top 10 places to study nursing in the UK , students there develop confidence and critical thinking in a supportive environment.
One part of the course that Aniagolu really enjoys is the clinical placements, which have seen her work in a respiratory ward, frailty unit, surgical unit and hospice. “My confidence has really improved during my time at the university, especially in terms of communicating with my patients during these placements,” she says.
“We also have such amazing tutors, including one who really helped me when I first started and was feeling lost. I had a chat with her, and I got to understand all the support available to students . The lecturers here have different approaches to different problems, they help the students come up with solutions, and always create room for us to speak out.”
Good healthcare, she says, combines compassion, critical thinking and real-world experience. “When you go into nursing you need to have a passion for caring for others,” she says. “It can be a tough, relentless job, so aside from the knowledge part of the course, you always have to care about the people you’re looking after. I always put myself in my patient’s shoes; if I was lying on that bed, how would I want to be treated? How would I want my loved one to be treated? And we’re taught to really look at individual patients and think about what they need – it’s about individualised care every step of the way.”
What about the many challenges facing the healthcare system today, from an ageing population to social inequality and a lack of resources and staffing? “There are many challenges in today’s healthcare, and healthcare professionals can and do burn out,” she says. “But at the University of Essex we’re encouraged to speak up if we have concerns in the workplace, and to be open with those around us. Nobody should ever die because of silence.” The university prides itself on not just delivering knowledge, but also in giving its students a voice and agency to go out and make a real difference in the world.
“They’re also very big on respect, openness, and effective communication across all cultures, religions, and backgrounds, and one of the big reasons I chose to study at the University of Essex was because of its diversity,” says Aniagolu. “We’re all very mindful of each other and we accommodate everyone irrespective of their background, which is a valuable skill to take into our adult nursing careers.
“This decision to move to the UK and study at the University of Essex has been one of the most transformative of my life,” she says. “And it was driven by my passion for healthcare, and a commitment to making a meaningful difference to people’s lives.”
Find out more about studying for a nursing degree at the University of Essex
“I lost my mum when I was too young to understand why,” says Aniagolu, who was born and raised in Nigeria. It was only as she got older that Aniagolu understood the circumstances of her mother’s death. “She died of postpartum haemorrhage [excessive bleeding after childbirth] and as I got to understand the reason she passed, I realised if better healthcare had been available, her death could have been prevented. She could have been OK. When I learned this, it inspired me to go into a career where I could help others.”
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Maria Lally. Published 3 Sept 2026, 02:48 pm.
