27 August 2020

There wasn’t a time in Hannah’s life where she wanted to be anything but a nurse. So as soon as she finished mandatory schooling, she began her training!

“I am one of those really boring people who never wanted to do anything else. I started my training straight out of school at 17!”

This might have been because Hannah’s childhood was filled with nursing stories, rather than fairy tales, from her mother who was a nurse and a midwife.

“She (my mum) inspired me to be a nurse. My mum is an amazing person, so kind and compassionate. Two very important qualities that help make a good nurse.”

Her current role – an advanced assessment nurse in the community - involves making a thorough assessment of patients in their homes to create a personalised care plan. By working closely with patients and their relatives Hannah develops a plan they’re happy with. Hannah says she “really loves her job”.

“It’s a very fast-paced job and you have to be able to think on your feet about what is best for the patient.”

Before her current role, Hannah held many other positions where she learnt other aspects of nursing, all of which have helped her in the present post. This included being a staff nurse, a sisters post and clinical nurse specialist in vascular surgery.

Hannah said

“I’m always keen to learn and I would stay in a job for a few years until I knew it inside out, then I would move onto something new”.

Hannah has dedicated her entire life to nursing, so what has kept her in the job for so long?

“I love that every day is totally different but also that feeling of going home and feeling that you have made a difference. That’s job satisfaction.”

When asked whether she would recommend the nursing profession, Hannah who had her heart set on becoming a nurse since the age of 12, empathetically said:

“Do it!!

“There is never a dull day. Nursing has given me an amazing career so far and the like-minded friends you meet along the way are a bonus. I am still best friends with some very special people I trained with – nearly 30 years on!”

For Hannah, the key to becoming a good nurse is one’s ability to show compassion, patience, resilience and being all ears – a good listener.

“There are bad days and experiences and, at times, huge emotional challenges (which is why you need these skills). But for me, the rewards, outweigh any of these challenges, and that’s why I am still a nurse."

Hannah has not known anything but nursing, so when asked how she’d summarise the profession, her response aptly was

“Devotion.”