My last International Nurses Day 2023

 

It’s International Nurses Day, 2023

It is a sudden watershed for me. Since December last year I have not been in a nursing role, as I now work part time as a Freedom To Speak Up Guardian. A role that is not without challenges it has its positives too. It often feels like I’m nursing the Acute trust I work in.

This piece is more about me and Nursing. It started in the late 1970’s when I had tried different kinds of work, (shops and offices) and needed to find something I thought I could stick at. The initial enquiry about nursing arose form a suggestion by a lady called Eileen I worked with in a catering job. By the time commuting to an office at the BBC[1] began to pall, I applied for a training place and was given an interview. Accepted, by both parties my training started in 1978. My learning has not stopped since.

Early on I recognised the Nursing was a ‘home’ for me, and that I might be able to stick at it in the long term. Working with those near the end of their lives appealed and that was the focus of my career for the last 30 or so years of it, in hospitals and hospices.

I’ve met all sorts of interesting people, in a variety of places, from Richmond House to Kemerovo in Siberia and South Africa. And even now it’s a joy to meet new people and later today I’ll be meeting student nurses to tell them about Freedom To Speak Up.

I have decided though that I will not renew my registration as a Registered nurse when it is due for renewal next. Nursing has been a great place to be and is something I remain interested in. With other calls on my time, I want to be able to give attention to family and friends as well as myself.

I pass on to anyone new to anyone new to nursing the one thing I have learnt over my career is to look after oneself. Physical – your feet and back, mentally – recognising depression for example, and spiritually keeping eyes open to opportunities for joy.

Enjoy IND 2023 and give thanks for those who have nursed before us, trained us, developed us and who are going into nursing now.

[1] With Eurovision fever high at present, whilst at the BBC I got to bump into ABBA in the door at Broadcasting House whilst at the height of their fame.

D31 #100WorkingDays Pop music, radio, TV

With nursing on pause I saw an advert in the paper from the BBC. They were looking for people for a variety of roles who had minimal qualifications. I applied and had an interview. I had hopes of a technical job and perhaps my imagination said, a career on TV. How hard could that be? 

The offer from ‘Aunty BBC’ was a clerks job in Central Directorate Accounts. The CDA was a small department that dealt with general bills like the telephone bill for Broadcasting House. There were special items like lawyers fees, and on occasion dealing with well known personalities. The actual office was on the first floor of a building in Argyle Street, next door to the London Palladium. It had two areas of open plan, one overlooked Liberty’s store. We had a flexible working arrangement that meant we could work longer hours some days to facilitate an early getaway on a Friday or a later arrival on a Monday. The BBC itself had the staff clubs, and lots of groups for activities. 

A favourite was SADG - studio amateur dramatic group. Based in radio studios after hours, there were some who could operate the dials and be the director and producer. Others of us liked to act. My most enjoyable part was Mole in Wind in the Willows. Each production when finished was played to a professional radio producer or similar who gave us their critical appraisal. We could get tickets to TV show recordings so I went to early Parkinson’s, saw Billy Connolly early in his rise to fame. And witnessed what a great magician Tommy Cooper was. Mum and Dad got to see a recording of Dad’s Army too.

My pop music claim to fame was based on a visit to Broadcasting House, where I sometimes went on business as well as to get lunch in the canteen. As I was leaving one morning I met in the doorway ABBA, as they emerged from a car looking tired, and presumably going to Radio 1 meeting. They ignored me unsurprisingly, clearly that level of fame which was at its 1970s height allowed such behaviour.

By The original uploader was Briantist at English Wikipedia. - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons. (Original Image), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6702133