Career profile: Cathy McArevey

What made you choose the profession?

From a very young age, I had a desire to help people. I cared for my elderly grandfather, who had dementia. During that time, I came across a lot of nurses. They were really inspiring and their actions have stuck with me, so that’s why I then decided to do it myself. 

How did your career first start, and how did it develop over the years?

So I trained to be an adult nurse. When I very first qualified worked in endoscopy temporarily until a permanent job came up. Then I went into intensive care. After that, I did some community work for victims of domestic abuse. So I set up some community projects. I was coordinating domestic abuse services across Hertfordshire, and as part of that, I was teaching professionals about domestic abuse and the impacts on communities.