Dr Maggie Davis, Chief Nurse at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UH Sussex), has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science.
Maggie joined UH Sussex – which runs St Richard’s Hospital alongside hospitals in Worthing, Brighton and Haywards Heath – as Deputy Director of Nursing in 2014 from Brighton & Hove Clinical Commissioning Group, where she was Head of Primary Care Strategic Development.
Graduating alongside the first cohort of Adult Nursing students, Maggie 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.”
She has extensive nursing experience, starting her nursing career in 1987, as a student nurse at St Bartholomew’s in London. Since then she’s spent time as a district nurse and an oncology nurse for Macmillan Cancer Support. She also completed a doctorate in Clinical Practice at the University of Surrey.
In her time at UH Sussex, Maggie has championed patient safety and nurse recruitment, and she has been praised for her ‘exceptional contributions’ to the profession. This includes her focus in developing new leaders and researchers through her clinical nurse fellowships and mentoring of others, instilling in them the values of kindness and professionalism.