Elizabeth Anionwu

Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu DBE FRCN (born Elizabeth Mary Furlong; 2 July 1947) is a British nurse, health care administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at University of West London.

Professor Dame

Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu

DBE FRCN
Born
Elizabeth Mary Furlong

(1947-07-02) 2 July 1947
Birmingham, England
Known forNurse, lecturer, administrator
Notable work
Mixed Blessings from a Cambridge Union (2016)
ChildrenAzuka Oforka (daughter)
Parents
AwardsPride of Britain Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, 2019
Websitewww.elizabethanionwu.co.uk

In 1979, Anionwu became the United Kingdom's first sickle-cell and thalassemia nurse specialist, helping establish the Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Counselling centre[1] with Consultant Haematologist Dr Milica Brozovic. In 1998, by then a Professor of Nursing, Anionwu created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the University of West London. She holds a PhD, was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).[2] She retired in 2007, and in 2016 she published her memoirs, Mixed Blessings from a Cambridge Union.

Early life

Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu was born Elizabeth Mary Furlong in Birmingham,[3] England, to an Irish mother and a Nigerian father. Her mother, Mary Maureen Furlong, was in her second year studying Classics at Newnham College, Cambridge University.[4] Her father, Lawrence Odiatu Victor Anionwu, was studying law at Cambridge University.[5]

Her upbringing had been heavily affected by moving between institutions and family. She spent just over two years living with her mother, a relationship that ended when her stepfather, who did not accept her and drank heavily, started to physically abuse her. She was placed in a catholic children's home where she was cared for by nuns, including several years in the Nazareth House convent in Birmingham.[4][6]

Often harshly punished and humiliated for wetting the bed, she remembers being made to stand with a urine-soaked sheet over her head as a punishment for wetting the bed. In the book she recalls, that later in life when working as a health visitor, "I made sure to keep up-to-date with more humane treatments for bedwetting". Nonetheless, she grieved leaving the convent to go and live with her mother. Every period of relative stability in childhood ended in sudden collapse. Following an unsettled childhood she qualified as a nurse, then health visitor. Shortly before her 25th birthday she suddenly found her father: barrister and former Nigerian Ambassador to Italy and the Vatican, Lawrence Anionwu. She was to visit Nigeria frequently and later changed her surname to Anionwu.[4]

Family

Anionwu has credited her father, Lawrence Anionwu, a barrister and diplomat, as the first person to provide her with career advice. Anionwu has one child, her daughter Azuka Oforka, an actress (in the BBC One medical drama series Casualty).[7]

Career

Anionwu began her nursing career at a young age after being inspired by a nun who cared for her eczema.[8] At the age of 16, she left school with seven O-levels and started to work as a school nurse assistant in Wolverhampton.[9] Later on, she continued with her education to become a nurse, health visitor, and tutor. She travelled to the United States to study counselling for sickle-cell and thalassemia centres as courses were not then available in the UK. In 1979 she worked with Dr Milica Brozovic to create the first UK sickle-cell and thalassemia counselling centre in Brent. The opening of this counselling centre pioneered the opening of more than 30 centres in the UK using the Brent Centre as a model.

In 1990 at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, she was a lecturer and then later was promoted to being a senior lecturer.[10] With the help of Professor Marcus Pembrey, Anionwu taught a course at University College London that was for National Health Service (NHS) staff members who worked with communities affected or at risk of sickle-cell disease, cystic fibrosis, Tay–Sachs disease and thalassaemia.

Plaque of the ward named after Mary Seacole in Whittington Hospital in north London.

Anionwu was appointed dean of the School of Adult Nursing Studies and a Professor of Nursing at University of West London. Here she created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the University of West London until her retirement in 2007. In 2001, Anionwu, along with Professor Atkin, wrote the book The Politics of Sickle Cell and Thalassemia. In 2005, she wrote a book, A Short History of Mary Seacole. In 2003 she became a Trustee and subsequently Vice-Chairperson of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal. Following the unveiling of the statue at St Thomas' Hospital in June 2016 she was appointed a Life Patron of the Mary Seacole Trust.[9]

Anionwu is also a Patron of other charities:[11]

Publications

Throughout the course of her career, Anionwu has published many pieces of work. In 2016, she published a memoir called Mixed Blessing from a Cambridge Union (ISBN 978-0-9955268-0-8).[12]

Anionwu has published works related to her field of work and study in many journals. She has written informative pamphlets for family members of sickle-cell patients, nurses who care for sickle-cell patients, and information for the general population.[13]

Selected writings
  • 1977: "Self Help in Sickle Cell Anaemia". World Medicine 12(25): 86–91.
  • 1978: "Sickle Cell Menace in the Blood". Nursing Mirror; 147(3): 16–19.
  • 1981: (with A. Beattie) "Learning to cope with Sickle Cell Disease – A Parent's Experience". Nursing Times; 77(28): 1214–19.
  • 1982: "Sickle Cell Disease". Health Visitor; 55: 336–341.
  • 1983: "Sickle Cell Disease: Screening & counseling in the antenatal and neonatal period". Midwife, Health Visitor & Community Nurse; 19: 402–406 (Part 1, October).
  • 1984: (with M. Brozovic) "Sickle cell disease in Britain". Journal of Clinical Pathology; 37: 1321–1326.
  • 1985: "Pain Perception in Sickle Cell Crisis". In: A. Baughan (ed.), Pain in Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle Cell Society, 1985.
  • 1986: (with H. Jibril) Sickle Cell Disease – A guide for families. London: Collins.
  • 1988: (with N. Patel, G. Kanji, H. Renges, M. Brozovic) "Counseling for Prenatal Diagnosis of Sickle Cell Disease and Beta Thalassemia Major. A four year experience". Journal of Medical Genetics; 25:769–72.
  • 1989: (with O. O. Akinyanju) "Training of counsellors on sickle cell disorders in Africa". The Lancet; 1: 653–654.
  • 1991: "Teaching Community Genetics". Nursing; 4(42): 37–38.
  • 1992: "Sickle Cell Disorders in Schoolchildren". Health Visitor; 65(4): 120–122.
  • 1993: "Genetics – A Philosophy of Perfection?" In: Beattie A., M. Gott, L. Jones & M. Sidell (eds), Reader in Health & Well Being. Macmillan/Open University Press, 1993: 76–83.
  • 1994: "Women and sickle cell disorders". In: Wilson, M. (ed.), The Black Women's Health Book, London: Virago Press, 1994, pp. 6174.
  • 1996: (with L. Laird, C. Dezateux) "Neonatal screening for sickle cell disorders: what about the carrier infants?" British Medical Journal, 313:407–411.
  • 1997: "Haemoglobinopathies". Practice Nurse 25 April:13;374–379.
  • 1998: (with J. Chapple) "Health Needs Assessment: Genetic Services". Chapter 12, in: S. Rawaf & V. Bahl (eds), Assessing Health Needs of People from Minority Ethnic Groups. London: Royal College of Physicians, 1998, pp. 169–190.
  • 1999: "In the Shadow of the Lamp. The story of the Crimea’s Unsung Nursing Heroine". Primary Nursing Care, November, pp. 21–22.
  • 2000: (with D. Sookhoo, J. Adams) "In the Melting Pot". Nursing Times 96:29, pp. 40–41.
  • 2001: "Screening and Genetic Counseling in Sickle Cell Disease". Archives of Ibadan Medicine, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 54–56.
  • 2002: "Leg ulcers and sickle cell disorders". Nursing Times, Vol. 98, No. 25, pp. 56–57.
  • 2003: "It's time for a statue of Mary Seacole". Nursing Times 99(32): 17 (12 August).
  • 2004: "Nursing input is crucial to genetics policy". Nursing Times 100 (25): 18. (22 June).
  • 2005: A short history of Mary Seacole: a resource for nurses and students. London: Royal College of Nursing.
  • 2006: (with E. Oteng-Ntim, C. Cottee, S. Bewley) "Sickle Cell Disease in Pregnancy". Current Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 16: 353–360.
  • 2007: "Making my mark". Nurse Researcher 14 (2): 84–86.
  • 2008: "Sickle cell disease: quality of care needs to improve within the NHS". Diversity in Health and Social Care. 15 December, 5:237–9.
  • 2009: "Sickle Cell Disease in on the increase and nurses need to be aware". Nursing & Midwifery Council News, Issue 28/May, p. 12.
  • 2012: "Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands". British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, May, Vol. 6, No. 5.
  • 2013: "Scotching three myths about Mary Seacole". British Journal of Healthcare Assistants. October, Vol. 7, No. 10.
  • 2014: (with A. Leary) "Modeling the Complex Activity of Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Specialist Nurses in England". Clinical Nurse Specialist, September/October, Vol. 28, Issue 5, pp. 277–282.
  • 2014: (with C. Staring-Derks, J. Staring) "Mary Seacole: Global Nurse Extraordinaire". Journal of Advanced Nursing, Volume 71, Issue 3, pp. 475–712.[14]

Awards

Anionwu was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2001 Birthday Honours for her services to nursing.[15] In 2004 she was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing (FRCN) for developing the sickle-cell and thalassemia counselling centre. In 2007, following her retirement, she was appointed Emeritus Professor for Nursing at the University of West London.[16]

In 2010 she was inducted into the Nursing Times Nursing Hall of Fame for the dedication to the Development of Nurse-led Services.[1] She also received the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award on Divas of Colour. Anionwu was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to nursing and the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal.[17] Anionwu was awarded a Fellowship of the Queen’s Nursing Institute in October 2017.[18]

In 2019, in recognition of Anionwu's major contribution to nursing, research and campaigning, the University of St Andrews conferred on her the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.[19] Also in 2019 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University, in recognition of her major contribution to the nursing profession.[20]

At the Pride of Britain Awards in October 2019, Anionwu received the Lifetime Achievement Award, "in recognition of her passion for nursing and dedication to reducing health inequalities",[21][22] the presentation being made Janet Jackson.[23][24]

On 31 May 2020 Anionwu was the subject of an episode of Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4.[9] She was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women (BBC) announced later that year on 23 November.[25]

References
  1. "NHS England » BME nurses and midwives instrumental in helping shape the NHS of today". www.england.nhs.uk. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  2. "Professor Elizabeth Anionwu profile: University of West London". uwl.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  3. "BME Trailblazers in the NHS Professor Elizabeth Anionwu CBE" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  4. Agnew, Thelma (2 October 2016). "An extraordinary life: Elizabeth Anionwu". Nursing Standard.
  5. Anionwu, Elizabeth N. (2016). Mixed Blessings from a Cambridge Union. ELIZAN. ISBN 9780995526808.
  6. "NHS England » Professor Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu". www.england.nhs.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  7. White, Nadine (12 March 2017). "Dame Elizabeth Anionwu: A Life Less Ordinary". The Voice.
  8. "Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu - Graduation". www.st-andrews.ac.uk. University of St Andrews. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  9. "Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, former nurse". Desert Island Discs. BBC Radio 4. 31 May 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  10. "Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu collects top university honour". Birmingham City University School of Nursing and Midwifery. 29 July 2019.
  11. "Prof Elizabeth Anionwu to receive a Lifetime achievement award on Divas of colour 2015". www.mbwpr.com. MBW PR. 22 December 2014.
  12. "My Book – Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu". elizabethanionwu.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  13. "Publications of Professor Elizabeth Nneka ANIONWU" (PDF). Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  14. Staring‐Derks, Corry, Jeroen Staring and Elizabeth N. Anionwu (10 November 2014). "Mary Seacole: global nurse extraordinaire". Journal of Advanced Nursing. 71 (3): 514–525. doi:10.1111/jan.12559. PMID 25382171 – via Wiley Online Library.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  15. "No. 56237". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 16 June 2001. p. 8.
  16. "UWL's Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Anionwu named in 2017 New Year Honours List". www.uwl.ac.uk. University of West London. 2 January 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  17. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N8.
  18. "Professor Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu, DBE CBE FRCN FQNI PhD". The Queen's Nursing Institute. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  19. "Laureation address: Professor Dame Elizabeth N Anionwu". University of St. Andrews. 26 June 2019.
  20. Ford, Megan (29 July 2019). "Elizabeth Anionwu given honour for 'major contribution' to nursing". Nursing Times. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  21. "Lifetime Achievement – Elizabeth Anionwu". Pride of Britain Awards. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. Gilroy, Rebecca (29 October 2019). "Nurse leader wins Pride of Britain lifetime achievement award". Nursing Times. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  23. Lewis, Rebecca (29 October 2019). "Janet Jackson makes rare red carpet appearance for Pride Of Britain awards 2019". Metro. Metro.co.uk. Metro. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  24. Raffray, Nathalie (5 November 2019). "Harlesden charity founder Dame Elizabeth Anionwu wins Pride of Britain's Lifetime Achievement Award". Kilburn Times.
  25. "BBC 100 Women 2020: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
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