As we mark 75 years of the NHS, we’re looking back on the history and achievements of the national health service and the opportunities that lie ahead to shape the next 75 years. The NHS has been a constant presence throughout all our lives and at the heart of everything is its staff and volunteers. We’re sharing a story from Tina, Professional Lead in the Newark and Sherwood Healthy Family Team who has clocked up 50 years’ service in the NHS.
Tina is in final years of her career and chose to work
beyond usual retirement time. She says she loves her job working in the community
and says she feels a very lucky and honoured person to have been able to work
closely with patients and now her staff team – a team of brilliant and
positive, caring people, who give their all to work to make a difference to
families and children. Tina says, “I will be sad to leave it all behind, but
time never stands still.”
Tina Durrani, Professional Service Lead |
Read Tina’s story
“My journey through my NHS career which led eventually to
working in the community is long, 50 years, and began accidentally whilst
looking through the job vacancies in the local paper. I had been working for a
few years as an office girl, secretary, insurance clerk, wages clerk, then had
two children in a short time which was my first experience of the NHS.
“I was in awe of the midwives and was transfixed watching
them work in the ward, making the beds look tidy with military precision,
having a super fixed routine of when we, the patients were ‘allowed’ to do
anything, I knew then that going back to typing and adding up figures would
never be for me again.
“It was mid December 1972, and I rang the number inviting
people to train as a nurse, remembering the midwives. A Mrs Grainger invited me
to come in for an interview the next day which was more of a long chat than an
interview. I commenced training as a Registered General Nurse (RGN) in January
1973, Mrs. Granger said that students for RGN could go further in their careers
than if I chose to be a Pupil Nurse training for SEN nurse role. I was
ambitious so grabbed the chance with an eye to the future, my entrance mode
would not be replicated in future years. The NHS was desperate to recruit
nurses that year, what a lucky chance for me.
“I loved my three years nurse training. There were some
very difficult times with things like childcare, and I overslept for a night
shift once. My feet had never been so painful, I was given responsibilities,
along with other student colleagues that would never be allowed today, but I
thrived, I loved the challenges, caring for very ill people, doing things I had
never considered myself to be capable of, intimate, personal care and holding
the hand of a dying patient. These are situations that are normal routine for
nurses, how proud we should be of our acute nursing care colleagues, such a
courageous and compassionate role.
“I stayed in the hospital environment for a long time,
becoming a Sister in the Operating Theatre. Then after having yet another child
who turned out to be a child I had to be with, I transferred to a post on nights,
working for many years in emergency operating theatre, helping in A & E and
helping the hospital night Sisters when I was not busy in theatres. I decided
to try community work when one night I realised that I needed more than the
fleeting relationship with patients that was theatres and A & E.
Tina Durrani as Operating Theatre Sister 1985 |
“I completed health visitor training and took up a position of health visitor in a GP surgery base with three colleagues. I had a ‘baptism of fire’ when the colleagues all left very quickly for other opportunities, leaving me wondering if I had done the right thing. I soon realised that it was giving me a great deal of satisfaction, being ‘in charge’. I loved the client contact and I felt that working closely with vulnerable families I was able to make a difference. It was a privilege to be taken into their confidence and having an insight into their lives. I worked hard, many hours unpaid overtime, managed to get everything done, perhaps not as well as I would have liked, but it got done. Colleagues were recruited and then I saw an opportunity to become a team leader in the community, still being able to work with families as a health visitor but also having the added responsibility of line managing a team.
“I look back now and can’t imagine how I actually did everything,
it was challenging, fast moving and a fantastic learning curve but I absolutely
knew I had found my perfect job.
“I have stayed in the community setting for many years,
many changes, both strategically and clinically, reorganised several times, losing
my client contact, being a full-time team leader, supporting, supervising and
line managing a team of health visitors and school nurses and their supporting
skill mix staff. Over the years I have been very privileged to support my team,
help them over some major changes, learn how to do change management properly,
with compassion, and more recently getting through the Covid period with all
the challenges, especially to keep the team cohesive and uplifted.
“I am in the final time of my career now, I chose to work
beyond usual retirement time as I love my job working in the community, I can
honestly say I feel I have been a very lucky and honoured person to have been
able to work closely with patients and then staff, my staff are now my caseload.
They are a team of brilliant and positive, caring people who give their all to
make a difference to families and children. I will be sad to leave it all
behind, but time never stands still.
“Anyone considering where they can have complete job satisfaction and want to be able to look forward to many opportunities in their career, they should be looking at working in the community. I am so glad I decided to make that phone call all those years ago to become a nurse but also that I took the chance to work in the community. Thank you to the wonderful NHS, community patients and staff.
Find out more about our adult community services: https://www.nottinghamshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/adult-community-services-integrated-care-team
For further information about careers in the NHS Working in health | Health Careers
As a lifelong advocate for the NHS and a dedicated nurse, I found 'Our NHS Stories: A lifetime in nursing' profoundly moving and inspiring. The commitment and compassion demonstrated by nurses throughout the decades encapsulate the essence of what makes our healthcare system truly remarkable. This blog serves as a poignant reminder of the tireless efforts and sacrifices made by nurses, whose unwavering dedication ensures the well-being of countless individuals every day. Thank you for sharing these invaluable stories, they are a testament to the invaluable role nurses play in our society.
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