European University of Lefke (EUL) School of Nursing hosted Dr. Dilek Sayık from the Department of Paediatric Neurology, Montreal Children’s Hospital, Canada and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University.

In the event held online, Dr. Dilek Sayık’s lecture on “The Journey from Clinical Nursing to Postdoctoral Fellowship” was followed with great interest by the students.

Dr. Sayık started her speech after introducing herself by explaining that she started to work in the emergency and first aid department right after her graduation and her goal at that time was to work only as a surgical nurse. Dr. Sayık expressed that during the process of dealing with pediatric patients coming to the emergency department, she realised that they represented a vulnerable population that needed to be protected and that she could communicate well with them, and that after a while, her department was changed to paediatrics. Sayık, who wanted to continue her career as a paediatric nurse after these experiences, said that she started her postgraduate education for this reason.

Pointing out the importance of planning and conducting scientific research in nursing, Sayık stated that in her doctoral thesis, she developed a “mobile epilepsy training programme for parents of children diagnosed with epilepsy” and with this program, she ensured that parents were informed about epilepsy management. Sayık stated that she continued her post-doctoral education by taking part in the project work carried out in cooperation with the Department of Paediatric Neurology of Montreal Children’s Hospital in Canada and McGill University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Sayık emphasised the importance of working as a clinician nurse and stated that doing postgraduate studies simultaneously can sometimes involve difficulties. However, Sayık noted that by integrating her clinical practice experiences into her scientific studies, she is trying to progress towards becoming a good clinician researcher and nurse, adding that she is currently in Canada as a Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Sayık concluded the speech by saying “The nursing profession is a profession open to development and change, there is no end to learning, you can touch many people and areas with the power of knowledge, sometimes it may be difficult to take a new step, but you should continue on your way without giving up, this way your success will come with you”.

The conference ended with Prof. Dr. Meral Demiralp, Director of the School of Nursing, stating that Dr Dilek Sayık’s experiences on the way from “undergraduate graduation to becoming a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Canada” is a very important example for the career management of her students and thanked Sayık and the participants.