Nursing student Dave Gwinnell helped launch a nationwide support group for male nurses.

Tell us about the group you set up.
It's called MINT – Men into Nursing Together. Our tutors started it as a group for Hallam students, and I helped take on the leadership of it as one of the student members.

When we got on social media we started getting interest and support from beyond Hallam. So we're there for our students, but we're also part of a bigger conversation about male representation in nursing.

How has it helped with your development?
Being in that conversation has got me thinking about all sorts of things: public perceptions of nursing, the resource pressures on the NHS, patient experience and preference.

At the same time, I've met new people in the nursing community. I've got relationships with students, educators and practitioners that I would never have had without MINT.

What's next for MINT?
We've done fundraising for a number of causes, and spoken at a couple of industry events too. We want to keep that momentum going, but stay grounded in the Hallam student community to offer support to those starting their careers. That's where MINT came from and I think it’s really important to keep a focus on universities.