To celebrate International Nurses Day on 12th May, the team at Henley House in Ipswich brought together three nurses of the past, present, and future!
Jill Pye, a resident at the Greensleeves Care home, worked as a nurse and then a Sister at Guy’s Hospital London.
Alcino currently works as a community nurse who visits Henley House having qualified just over a year ago and Maisha is now in her 2nd year as a community nursing student.
The three nurses discussed their experiences in the field, with an overwhelming difference being the improvement in person-centred patient care. Jill recalled that in her nursing days, nurses were not allowed to speak to the patients as they were too busy and would get into trouble if they did. However, they discussed that getting to know patients and building relationships with them is now a top priority.
Jill said of the start of her nursing career:
“I started working as an orderly (cleaner) in the hospital. One day while attending a party, a famous doctor told me I was wasted as an orderly, and that I should train as a nurse. Someone then told me that I wasn’t clever enough, so I set out to prove them wrong.
Jill certainly did prove them wrong, as she went on to be awarded a gold medal for working on the ward for the first open heart surgery performed by Sir Russell Brock.
Alcino and Maisha talked about their favourite parts of the role, and both agreed that they love being able to meet new people from all walks of life. Alcino also mentioned that there are more opportunities in the field now, as there are many different roles within nursing, as well as different bands. Jean agreed, as when she was nursing the options were Nurse, Head Nurse, Sister or Matron.
Jill recalled a fond memory of her nursing days, saying:
“My favourite part of the job was Christmas- all of the staff had to work. We would go around the wards singing to patients and the consultants would carve the turkey on the ward in front of everybody and hand out the food.”