Dawn Hooper
Dawn Hooper said she was thrilled to achieve First Class Honours in her degree after a challenging three years.
She graduated from the University of Worcester with a BSc (Hons) in Adult Nursing in November 2021.
She said: “It has been a challenging three years both working through a pandemic and through the loss of my mum in March 2020. I have put my heart and soul into achieving my dream of becoming a nurse and making a difference to people’s lives. So, to achieve a First Class Honours degree is the icing on the cake and more than I ever could have hoped for.”
Dawn said she hoped her story would inspire other to follow their dreams. “With commitment and hard work, they really can come true,” she said.
Dawn now works as a newly qualified Community Nurse with Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.
“I really want to focus on my professional development and learn my profession, striving to deliver holistic personalised healthcare to our community,” she said. “In the future I would like to continue with my learning and complete a specialist community nursing (District Nursing) course which would mean returning to university.”
Dawn said learning in the pandemic was challenging but presented opportunities.
“Suddenly, your learning is turned upside down and you’re wondering how you are going to get through the course,” she said. “However, the pandemic has presented me with learning opportunities that I would never have been exposed to. I have learnt to be resilient and look at different ways of working, adapting to the continual changes student nurses are faced with and managing my own learning under significant pressure.”
Dawn said she felt an enormous amount of pride working alongside NHS staff throughout the pandemic.
She added: “The support from the Nursing team at the University was excellent, especially after losing my mum last year. The pandemic has affected me both personally and professionally, I have suffered loss, but I have also seen amazing teams all working together to support people who have succumbed to Covid-19. To see them receive caring, compassionate and excellent healthcare from a multidisciplinary team and returning back home to their families, there really is nothing better than to say: ‘I was part of this person’s journey’ and I am really proud.”
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