Career Profile - Joanne Upton, Clatterbridge, Wirral

Why did you become a nurse?
My increasing passion for the NHS led me in to nursing. I've always admired the service it provides and as I got older it was something I wanted to be a part of. Also, family and friends used to tell me I'd make a great nurse as I have quite a caring nature which is probably one of the first things people look for in a nurse.

How has your career developed since you started nursing?
When I qualified as a nurse in 2002, I specialised in blood cancers working as a haematology nurse at Arrowe Park Hospital. I later decided to focus on solid cancer tumours and moved to the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, one of the UK's largest networked cancer centres, to work as a radiotherapy nurse. In 2006, I moved to the Delamere ward, the centre's dedicated chemotherapy ward, where I've worked as a chemotherapy nurse ever since.