career profile

Why did you become a nurse?

I was an accident-prone child who spent a lot of time in A&E being patched up. I thought the nurses were wonderful and I wanted to be one.

How has your career developed since you started nursing?

I trained at Kings College Hospital in the 1970s and did wonder if I had made the right career choice. Nurses were not allowed much clinical freedom and weren't really expected to think in those days. Nurses didn't assess, diagnose or prescribe.

I worked abroad for some years as my husband's work took him to other countries. When I returned to UK with new skills, I did some agency work. However, the agency was unimpressed with my stint working abroad. It put me to work on the geriatric wards as it thought that no special skills were required there.