Inspirational women: my auntie Jean and Gertie

I'm now a little over 100 days into my role and I was delighted to celebrate with some of my colleagues who were picking up a long service award in October. I asked several of them, who was it who inspired you to enter a career in healthcare?

Mine were my auntie Jean, who cared for our older neighbours in rural Northern Ireland and Gertie my neighbour, who was a registered nurse in the local hospital.

Gertie used to bring me home used empty syringes (without needles, I hasten to add) from the hospital where she worked so that I could play as a nurse.

I’m sure that wouldn’t happen today with the infection, prevention and control measures we have in place! But I thought she was the bee’s knees and spent many days asking her all about exactly what she did in the hospital. She always made it sound so interesting and I was hooked.

I went on to train as a nurse and specialise in emergency care, which was perfect for me. I thrived in an environment of unknowns, adapting and changing to every unique situation. Days were extreme going from the most tragic to the simple presentations in the space of an hour. The thing that remained consistent throughout my time in emergency care was the critical nature of a team working together to get the best outcome. No one was more important and everyone had a crucial part to play.

The reason for telling you this, is it’s all about positive influence. I might never have been writing to you now about my long career if it wasn’t for my auntie Jean or Gertie.

I know many of my colleagues have encouraged their own families into a career in the NHS. I’m sure they will encourage future generations, who will eventually be the people caring for us.

Talking positively about our experiences is the most powerful way to encourage the next generation to join us. Even on the toughest days it’s a helpful reminder for us all about why we do what we do.

At the long service awards many of my colleagues reflected and shared their stories and we captured them on film. Give it a watch and you might be surprised at some of the inspirational stories!

Mairead