University of Hull's largest ever cohort of nursing graduates - boost to the NHS

The University of Hull’s largest ever cohort of nursing graduates will provide a boost to the NHS – and around 70% will be working for local health services and hospitals.

The nurses, and other allied health students, are graduating as part of the University’s week-long celebration of degree ceremonies at Hull City Hall. (Monday 9 July to Thursday 12 July).

More than 120 medical students from Hull York Medical School are set to graduate at a separate ceremony in York on Thursday 12 July. This is also the 10^th anniversary of the school’s first graduating class and brings the total number of doctors trained since the school was founded to more than 1400.

The majority of the nurses who are graduating have already been taken on by the local health services, making a real difference to their communities.

Many of the medical students this year will be undertaking their Foundation Year training – a two-year, general postgraduate medical training programme which forms the bridge between medical school and specialist/general practice training – within the Yorkshire and the Humber area.

This year’s ceremony in City Hall will also see the graduation of the Faculty of Health Sciences’ first cohort of Operating Department Practitioners  –  the healthcare professionals who are caring for patients before, during and after surgery.

Our graduates make an outstanding contribution to improving the health of the people in our region and beyond, evidenced by the fact that for four consecutive years 100% of operating department practitioners, nursing, midwifery and medical graduates have been in employment or further education within 6 months.*

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has already offered jobs to 144 student nurses who graduate this year, covering all specialities of adult medicine including oncology, theatres, stroke care, intensive care, surgery, medicine and cardiology.

Professor Julie Jomeen, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Hull, said:

“With 238 nurses and 129 doctors graduating this week, we are delighted that the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Hull York Medical School are making such a valuable contribution to the health of the region and beyond. Our graduates are instrumental in helping to build the cohesive workforce required by the NHS to deliver the highest standard of healthcare in its 70th anniversary year and for the future.

“By training skilled nurses and doctors who will be able to improve outcomes for their patients on a daily basis, we can help to address healthcare shortages, support our local hospitals and drive improvements to healthcare for the region and beyond.”

Since it was established in 2003 the medical school has worked in close partnership with local NHS trusts and community healthcare providers to ensure it has remained abreast of local and national workforce needs – training doctors in hospitals, primary care and community settings across North Yorkshire, the Humber and North Lincolnshire and Goole and focusing on tackling regionals shortages of GPs and psychiatrists.

Professor Una Macleod, Dean of Hull York Medical School, which is a joint partnership between the Universities of Hull and York, said:

“We are committed to delivering programmes that are innovative, contemporary and relevant to future healthcare needs – ensuring our graduates are able to thrive in their chosen careers and specialties. Since 2003 we have trained over 1400 doctors and 2018 represents our 10th graduating cohort of medical students. 

“Many of these are now working as GPs, psychiatrists and consultants throughout the region. We are proud to work with our local NHS and community healthcare providers and know that our students are, through their clinical practice, education and research, making a difference to the health of our communities.”

All our nursing and medicine graduates have gained experience and have already made a valuable contribution to the health of our community through work placements, which are an essential part of their degree course. 

Simon Nearney, the trust’s Director of Workforce, said the trust, the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and medical school shared identical goals in training, developing and recruiting the best healthcare staff.

“We work closely with the University to support students throughout their training, offering them placements to put classroom-acquired learning into practice under supervision and mentoring.

“Our strong partnership comes to a rewarding, practical conclusion because we are able to offer full-time jobs to students upon qualifying, allowing them to stay in the area beside family and friends in a vibrant, cultural city on the up.” 

On Thursday, the University paid tribute to the NHS as it celebrated its 70th birthday.

Staff and students were delighted to join the nation in celebrating this remarkable organisation and gathered at the Allam Medical Building, the centrepiece of the University’s £28-million health campus. The University lit up the award-winning building in blue, joining other landmark buildings such as York Minster in shining a light on the NHS’s heritage and future promise as it delivers the healthcare of the future. 

How Emma achieved her lifetime goal of becoming a nurse

Emma Shann, who is one of 238 nurses graduating at the University’s Summer ceremonies, had always wanted to be a nurse since senior school. But after school, instead of listening to her heart and being nervous about the academic side of studying nursing at University, she pursued a career in administration, even though she knew it was not the career path she really wanted.

“It was only later when I decided with more life experience and already having started my family, that I could look into achieving my life time goal of becoming a nurse.”

Emma studied at Hull College to achieve the grades she needed and started studying for a degree in adult nursing at the University of Hull with the aim of becoming a practice nursing working in a GP surgery.

“The support right from day one was amazing – from all the staff and my peers at the University. There was always help at hand – whenever I needed it. I enjoyed the way the course was planned  –there was a good balance between theory and practical and all of the theory was put into practice during my placements working in hospitals and in other healthcare centres.

“This really helped me use so much of the knowledge in a very practical way on the wards. It also built my confidence in delivering the best care possible as a student nurse. I feel so privileged to have been given the variety of placements I received which was right through from outpatients, critical care and then having a placement in my chosen career which made me even more convinced I wanted to work as a practice nurse.”

Emma secured her dream job as a general practice nurse last year and said she feels privileged and lucky every single day to be ‘making such a positive difference’ to patients and their families.

“There were times when finding the energy for my family after a long day on the ward felt incredibly difficult. Managing your family life and your studies at the same time takes real commitment but it is worth the effort.

“I am very proud of myself and I feel I have shown my children that no matter what if you put your mind to it you can achieve anything in life.”

Find out more about our Health, Nursing and Midwifery courses.

*(Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education for the academic year 2016/17, published by HESA June 2018).