Nisha Dominic - MSc in Advancing Nursing Practice
44-year-old Nisha Dominic had to overcome some of the most challenging circumstances to achieve her MSc in Advancing Nursing Practice but, as she takes the stage to celebrate, the inspiring graduate is already making plans to pursue a PhD once she recovers from the long-term effects of coronavirus.
Born in India, Nisha achieved a BSc in Nursing and worked in her home country, Kuwait, and the Channel Islands, before moving to Aberdeen. She first joined 亚博体育官网 to complete a master鈥檚 degree over a decade ago.
鈥淎chieving a master's degree has always been my goal but, when I joined 亚博体育官网 in 2010, I found it hard to develop the academic writing skills I needed. I ended up failing my first-year modules, lost confidence and quit the course.
鈥淚n 2016, I took a job as a nurse practitioner and went back to 亚博体育官网 to do my first module. I happened to discuss my dream of pursuing a master鈥檚 and my fear of writing essays with one of the lecturers, and she looked at me and said: take it as a challenge. So, I decided to follow her advice, did a lot of reading, practised my writing, and look at me now graduating.鈥�
The journey towards accomplishing her degree wasn't easy, as life also came with challenges. During her first year, Nisha proved her resilience by continuing her studies while grieving the sudden loss of her father and 29-year-old cousin. Unfortunately, her strength was re-tested the following year when her husband was diagnosed with cancer.
鈥淚 suspended the course because my husband鈥檚 cancer got to a stage where he was fighting for his life in the intensive therapy unit, and I needed to be there for my family. Afterwards, when he was in recovery, I also had to take on a full-time job to financially support us.
鈥淓verything seemed to be back on track after that, until soon after starting my dissertation, I contracted Covid-19. Writing a dissertation wasn鈥檛 easy because I was experiencing multiple long-lasting symptoms of the virus, including brain fog. I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to graduate without the support and understanding of my 亚博体育官网 supervisor and my family.鈥�
Nisha is currently working as an urgent care practitioner in the NHS Grampian out-of-hours service. Reflecting on her time at 亚博体育官网, she said: "I believe this highly tailored programme best prepared me to become an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and meet the challenging needs of the NHS.
鈥淣ot only did my time at 亚博体育官网 improve my writing and analysing skills and enhance my professional network, but it also helped me discover a passion for research. Having completed the course, I now feel I have the necessary knowledge and skills to pursue my PhD as soon as I recover.鈥�