Kaylia Byford

A final-year degree student at EIT, Kaylia Byford has made a mark in the nursing profession with her recent win in a national research poster competition. 

Encouraged by lecturer Alasdair Williamson who teaches in the year 3 Nursing Research course in  EIT’s Bachelor of Nursing programme, Kaylia entered a new student research poster category that formed part of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Nursing Research Section Conference held in Nelson.

The information-based poster, entitled Postnatal Depression: Screening, Assessment and Management – A Systematic Review of the Literature, is a distillation of the 22-year-old’s recent research work.

Kaylia, who lives in Hastings, found the national conference a stimulating experience and it has reinforced her ambition to pursue an academic career.  She plans to progress to further study in Australia, ideally after completing her bachelor’s degree mid-next year.

“I started nursing studies intending to specialise in maternal health,” she says.  “That’s still my focus, but my interest has become more theoretical.”

Attracted to nursing because it is a caring profession, Kaylia would like her studies to lead her to further research or to help others with their academic pursuits.

The $200 cheque she received for her poster win was signed and presented by Alasdair Williamson in his role as NZNO Nursing Research Section committee treasurer.

“The Nursing Research Section wanted to raise the profile of student research,” says Alasdair, who had no input in the judging.  “The entries in this new category illustrated that student nurses are capable of producing work that has a place at a national conference.”