Thomas Beattie has traded in his hammer and tool belt for a stethoscope and medical monitors.

“I wanted to be in a field where I could help people instead of make things,” says Beattie, who left a career in woodworking and construction to pursue nursing. “I realized that staying in construction wouldn’t be fulfilling enough.”

On Tuesday morning, he’ll be one of 442 students graduating from the McMaster Mohawk Conestoga Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program at Hamilton Place.

After finishing high school at Westmount Secondary in Hamilton, Beattie, 24, spent a couple of years doing framing, roofing, renovations and finishing touches. Recognizing that he had a special talent, at one point he saw construction being his long-term career, he explains.

However, Beattie soon became restless. There were slow periods in the winter when there was less work. A guidance counsellor at Mohawk College (where Beattie had been taking some courses) described the variety of career opportunities that nursing presents.

He had a desire to help people, he says. “While in construction I was always a person who wanted to help others.” But his main reason for leaving the trade was more personal.

“I had family members who developed cancer and I thought, ‘there’s got to be something more that I could do. Right now, building something doesn’t seem like enough,'” says Beattie.

His grandfather was diagnosed with bladder cancer. His godmother began her battle with colon cancer. Seeing them both struggle ultimately influenced his career decision.

“They were both ecstatic I was getting into nursing, something I really wanted to do,” he says.

His grandfather, who passed away last October, left him with a piece of advice he took to heart.

‘My grandfather, who was a firefighter, had his fair share of seeing things on the job that were hard to deal with. So he was speaking from experience when he told me not to bring work home from the clinical setting. It just makes things that much more devastating,” says Beattie.

When he left construction, those in the field wished him luck, saying he was a strong person for transferring into nursing due to the tough emotional strain.

During his time in the program, he became involved with the McMaster University Nursing Students Society. This past year, he was also the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association’s official delegate for the McMaster Mohawk Conestoga BScN program.

Beattie, who was born and raised in Hamilton, is currently applying for work and hoping to find a local job in oncology.

“My plan is to not leave Hamilton until I feel I’ve done enough here, that I’ve given back to the community,” he says.

In addition to the BScN degrees being awarded, one PhD Nursing student and two master’s students will be presented with their graduate degrees, and graduates in Medical Radiation Sciences will also receive their degrees at the 9:30 a.m. ceremony.  The nurses also have a pinning ceremony at 1 p.m. the same day.

An honorary Doctor of Science degree will be conferred at the ceremony on Dr. Edward Calabrese, a professor of toxicology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Calabrese is an expert in susceptibility to pollutants; has been a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and NATO Countries Safe Drinking Water committees; and served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.