Nurse Brittany McArthur set to graduate today. Picture by Nigel McDowell/Ulster University
Brittany McArthur, who has become known as the ‘singing nurse’, will be awarded her degree from Ulster University.
The student from Ballykelly shot to unexpected fame when Derry SDLP councillor Jason Barr shared footage of her singing on social media in May.
He was moved to tears by Ms McArthur’s care and compassion for his 87-year-old grandmother Nellie Barr, who was a patient at Altnagelvin Hospital at the time.
The video showed the trainee nurse – who was not aware she was being filmed – standing by Mrs Barr’s bedside singing Amazing Grace, one of the pensioner’s favourite songs.
Ms McArthur said: “To be honest I still can’t believe it happened. I didn’t know the video was being taken until I was tagged in a social media post that had over 10,000 views.”
Speaking ahead of her graduation, the nurse – who studied at the university’s Magee campus – said she had always loved working with people and did a lot of volunteering from a young age.
“I knew I wanted to make a difference and what better way to do that than becoming a nurse.
“Not only that, but nursing opens many windows of opportunity and there are various avenues of work to go into including; research, teaching, working in various settings… the possibilities are endless.”
She said the quote that has remained with her through her nursing journey is one from American poet, singer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Ms McArthur is working as a nurse in the Western Trust.
And sometime in the future she hopes to return to UU to undertake a specialist practice course.
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