My Talented friend ~ Laura
As with last year the month of March I thought I’d spice things up a bit by telling you about other people rather than just my own experiences. I messaged a few of my friends who have their own businesses, blogs and a few who are doing amazing jobs as I thought it’d be fun to introduce you to some of the amazing people I am lucky to have in my life.
First up this year is one of my friends who I have known since primary school, after doing one degree decided on a change, completed another degree and is now a fully qualified nurse (how cool is that!?!) but I’ll let Laura tell you a bit more about herself…

Who are you? What is it that you do?

I’m Laura, and I a newly qualified nurse, about 6 months into my first nursing post. The journey for me started about five years ago, when I had graduated from my first degree (in performance and media) and found myself working as a care assistant in a nursing home. I knew from then that health care was for me, but I had no idea where it would take me!

When did you start? What motivated/inspired you?

The specific area I chose to work in is respiratory nursing, but I didn’t chose an area until I had almost qualified! Nursing is generally split into medical and surgical and from that, there are hundreds of paths you can go down. I had one friend that went straight into community nursing from uni and another that went straight into A and E, so there are no limits on the options open to nurses once you qualify!

My original motivation to start my nursing career was to help people. I found that I really enjoyed care work and I wanted to do more. I would say this is still my main motivation now, to give the best care I can to my patients. Nursing can can be a hard job, so it is important to keep motivated and remember why you wanted to do the job to begin with!

What would be your recommended first steps to making a success of it? What advise would you give to someone wanting to do the same?

If you are thinking of nursing as a career, it is a good idea to look at different universities and entry requirements. I was lucky in the way that my previous degree gave me enough UCAS points to get into my chosen uni. There are plenty of routes into nursing. You can attend an “access course” which is either 1 year full time or two years part time to gain the entry requirements for most universities. They are also looking at introducing apprenticeships for nurses in the near future. It is important to remember that all nursing degrees will require you to take part in placements in a variety of areas and may include more than one hospital. This will include night shifts and weekends, as most wards are open 24/7. It’s always good to do some research into which areas your university may cover as you might be required to travel some distance!

Lastly, it is also important to remember to take some time for yourself! It can be an emotionally draining career choice, but it’s definitely worth it. My university put a lot of emphasis on mindfulness and self care.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I like to spend my free time relaxing and I luckily live very close to the sea, so a beach walk always clears my head! I’m also a huge animal lover and currently have a pet hedgehog!

A massive thank you to Laura for taking the time to send me responses to my questions. For security reasons we cannot say where Laura works but if you are one of her patients you will know that you will be in the best of hands 🙂

Good luck in the future, you are going to do amazing things! Also, your pet hedgehog is so cute ^_^ (if you agree, Laura’s hedgehog has it’s own instagram page, feel free to give it a follow)

 

Next week I have another guest writer, stay tuned to find out who…

 

Until next time, TTFN.

 

Have you ever thought about becoming a medical professional? Has this advice helped you at all? What do you think of Laura’s choice of pet? Let me know in the comments.

As usual feel free to like, comment, share, subscribe, follow my other social medias and message me if you want to collaborate 🙂

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