Chichester’s new nursing graduates celebrate as they prepare for local jobs
The first-ever cohort of Nursing students has graduated from the University of Chichester in a ceremony at Chichester Cathedral this week. The 22 Adult Nursing students are among almost 1,200 students who donned their robes to celebrate graduation, alongside 10 Honorary Graduates which included actor Hugh Bonneville, star of the Downton Abbey TV series and films.
Raymond Resurreccion, who graduated with a degree in Adult Nursing said: “I feel excited and ecstatic to graduate after completing the course in Adult Nursing. I feel that I have been rewarded for the sacrifices I made to attain this degree. I had a fantastic time as a nursing student at the University of Chichester. I felt supported throughout my learning by the lecturers and other faculty members at the university from the librarians to the nursing placement team. I took on the philosophy of good evidence-based nursing practice taught in the classroom, which helped me develop into a professional nurse in the future.”
The nursing students will be going on to a variety of roles in hospitals across the region in partnership with University Hospitals Sussex.
Graduating alongside the first cohort of Adult Nursing students on Friday, Dr Maggie Davis, Chief Nurse at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UH Sussex) was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science, and said: “It is such an honour to be here today, and to celebrate our fabulous student nurses who are graduating this year during an inspiring partnership between the university and hospital trust, I feel hugely privileged to be part of it.
“I have had a wonderful nursing career, so to be part of such a wonderful celebration, I am actually speechless, it’s truly an honour. I lead fabulous nurses and midwives, it’s such a privilege.”
Professor Jane Longmore, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Chichester said: “It is wonderful to see the class of 2024 graduate after three years of hard work. I am very proud of their success and it is especially pleasing to see our first group of Nursing students graduate. They will be going on to serve their local communities in a rewarding and worthwhile profession.”
