Thousands of nurses work tirelessly every day saving lives and making patients feel better, without expecting any thanks in return.

Ipswich Star: (L-R) University of Suffolk nursing students Danni Danysh and Lucy McKenzie. Picture: CONTRIBUTED(L-R) University of Suffolk nursing students Danni Danysh and Lucy McKenzie. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

In honour of their dedication, the University of Suffolk is marking International Nurses’ Day on Friday by showcasing and celebrating the achievements of its medical alumni at an open event at its Ipswich campus.

Members of the public are invited to attend and there will be an opportunity to speak to representatives from the university’s Adult Nursing, Child Nursing and Mental Health Nursing courses.

The theme for this year’s annual awareness day is ‘health promotion’, and attendees will be able to get advice on how to live well as well as a free blood pressure check.

Although it is not a direct recruitment campaign, organisers hope the event may encourage people to start a job in the health service.

Lead admissions tutor, Linda Johnson, said: “Nursing is a fantastic career for the right people.

“The scope of development and specialisation post-graduation is enormous. There are so many great nurses out there doing fantastic work and we want to celebrate these nurses and especially those who have trained with us over the last 50 years.”

Danni Danysh studied Adult Nursing with the University of Suffolk and graduated in 2013. She is now working as a registered nurse in the Haematology and Oncology ward at Ipswich Hospital.

She said: “I enjoy helping people and my aim is to improve the experience of every one of my patients.”

Lucy McKenzie decided to embark on a medical career in her 50s and she is now in the second year of a Adult Nursing degree at the university.

She said: “My personal tutors have been amazing and incredibly supportive, especially with my dyslexia diagnosis. I feel they have really taken the time to view me as an individual not just as a faceless student. There is a wide range of ages and experience in the student cohort; I really do not feel out of place as the oldest student in the group.”

The International Nurses’ Day event will take place between 11am and 3pm on Friday in the foyer of the Waterfront Building at the University of Suffolk.