A mother of four from Aston has qualified as a nurse with a first-class degree from the University of Chester, after studying while running the family home.
Emma Lennon, 37, completed the university’s Adult Nursing course and will graduate later this year as a Registered Adult Nurse.
She had wanted to be a nurse since childhood.
“Nursing combines clinical knowledge, compassion, communication, and teamwork, which are all qualities I value,” she said.
The course took her through clinical placements across several healthcare settings.
On the first of them, at Ellesmere Port Hospital, staff told her lecturer they would have taken her on immediately.
Sonia Boulton, Senior Lecturer at the University of Chester, said:
“On her first clinical placement at Ellesmere Port Hospital the staff there said to me that they would give her a job today. She was a first-year student nurse on her first placement, but they could see already that she would be a competent and efficient nurse.”
Emma chose Chester for its links with local healthcare providers and the range of placements on offer, in hospital settings she already knew.
Balancing the coursework and placements with four children was the hardest part, and she wrote late into the night to get her assessments and dissertation in on time.
She thanked her husband Paul Lennon for working long hours to support the family through her studies.
Qualifying has come with something missing from it.
“Completing the course is a proud and rewarding achievement, which is a little bittersweet for me as while it’s something I have wanted for many years, unfortunately I lost my parents who I wish, more than anything, I could share this happy and proud moment with,” she said.
Boulton said Emma had been “always helping her peers and supporting others” during the course, and “a positive role model for her peers”.
Emma said the recognition was not something she had expected.
“To me, that’s what it’s all about; helping others and offering support seeing other people smile, feel supported and achieving great things makes me feel good,” she said.
She now wants to build on the qualification.
“I hope to expand my clinical knowledge, take on leadership opportunities, and potentially undertake further professional development or specialist training in a field I am passionate about, such as palliative care or cardiology,” she said.
“Ultimately, I want to continue providing excellent patient care while supporting and mentoring future nursing students as, being a student myself, I realise just how important it is to help the next generation to have their dreams and goals come true too.”
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