A welcome message from Nursing Times' Editor, Steve Ford.

Welcome to the Student Nursing Times Awards 2020. Our awards recognise you, a group of outstanding students on your journey to entering the nursing profession, and all those who support you along the way.

This year has, of course, been very different for everyone. The health and social care sector, including education, has been at the forefront of meeting the challenge of Covid-19. Usual learning processes have been disrupted and nearly 30,000 students signed up to do paid placements to help out on the front line. Now, at the beginning of this new academic year, students and educators face fresh challenges, such as virtual learning.

Likewise, we have turned the 2020 Student Nursing Times Awards into a virtual ceremony. Judging finished literally on the week of lockdown in March and meant we were unable to hold our usual event as planned in April. Now, after an unavoidable delay imposed by Covid-19, we are delighted to be able to finally announce the winners.

Watching on 27 October will be students from all over the UK and at different stages of their nursing education experience, from first years starting out to third years about to become newly qualified nurses. Your innovation and achievements so early in your career already make you sources of inspiration – and should encourage potential future employers to snap you up before the competition does!

Meanwhile, the many higher education institutions and placement providers represented in the awards demonstrate the constant evolution and development in the way our nurses of the future are educated, equipping them to deal with the challenges they will face and to provide the best care possible.

I would also like thank our judges. Their hard work, time and commitment allows us to hold this annual celebration of nursing education. Given the quality and quantity of entries, choosing a winner is often not a straight-forward task. Likewise, I want to give a massive thanks to our sponsors for their ongoing support, as without them we could not hold this event.

Finally, well done once again to all our winners and finalists. Please enjoy the Student Nursing Times Awards 2020 and I look forward to hopefully seeing you in person in future.

Steve Ford, editor, Nursing Times