After time in ICU/CCU I began wondering about next steps. I’d been fortunate to start both my Diploma in Nursing and move on to BSc (Hons) Nursing courtesy of the support at MKUH. This helped my confidence and exposed me to many ideas that helped shaped my knowledge of nursing theory and application in practice.
I’d also spent time involved in the local Royal College of Nursing (RCN) branch, making my first visit to the RCN Congress held in Glasgow in 1985. It began to help me think about next steps though I wasn’t quite ready to make the leap to hospice at that time. Instead I found an opportunity to see life was like as a Charge Nurse, the name given to men who were in a Sister role running a ward. So it was I applied to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital to be a Charge Nurse.
I was appointed to a medical ward as the junior Charge Nurse and so more learning ensued. I carried on with my part time degree studies. The new role was a challenge not least because of the commute. It meant a second car for us, so began an affair with a Morris Minor or two. Winter mornings could be cold and the morning of the 1987 hurricane had me watching the lights on the M1 wave in the breeze. I arrived on the ward to find broken windows. Everyone was safe and the hole soon mended. Another morning there was the only fire I’ve encountered on a ward when I found the toaster ablaze. We had to call the fire brigade who came along in the rush hour after the toaster had been left unattended. No wonder fire officers don’t like toasters.
No comments:
Post a Comment