In a few days, the UK will mark not only the anniversary of the birth of history’s most famous nurse, Florence Nightingale, but also International Nurses Day. This event is celebrated around the world every year on the 12th of May.
To mark the occasion, this year the Royal College of Nursing Scotland will hold the nation’s ‘Biggest Nursing Party’, having invited healthcare professionals across the country to organise their own get-togethers with colleagues.
Show all Medical/Dental/Health Care across Scotland.
The day will be an opportunity to mark the wonderful work nurses do and take time out to talk to people on the frontline of healthcare about why nursing is so vital.
This is especially important right now when Scotland needs to recruit more nurses – with an increasingly ageing workforce, nursing and midwifery are seeing particularly high rates of staff retiring.
In fact, the number of nursing vacancies in Scotland is at a record high. In December last year there were 2396 openings for nurses and midwives – with 636 unfilled for at least three months. This means there are opportunities for people of all ages to train for crucial roles.
There is a choice of routes to train for and to get into the profession, with the possibility of specialising in areas such as mental health, palliative care and children’s nursing. As well as being based in hospitals, nurses can also work in the community, visiting people in their own homes, in care homes or health centres.
For anyone starting out, there is the possibility of becoming a nursing degree apprentice. Anyone can apply and most apprenticeships will take four years, although previous qualifications could shorten this. Apprentices will be expected to study part-time as well as have practical training.
Martin Hannah first felt the desire to move into nursing when he was still at school in East Kilbride.
“I was 17 and the only place that accepted me was Dundee College of Nursing and Midwifery,” he recalls.
“Dundee felt like a million miles from home and it may as well have been on the moon. I turned the place down – I don’t think I was was old enough to move away. A few years later my sister Selena was studying for an HNC at Langside College and that spurred me on to study an HNC in Health Care at Cambuslang College. On completing the HNC, I applied to study Nursing at Glasgow Caledonian University and was accepted. Selena later followed me into nursing!”
Today Martin is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Clinical Haematology and works mainly at New Victoria Hospital in the Southside of Glasgow.
“I look after patients with many different haematological cancers, such as chronic leukaemias, lymphomas and other bone marrow or blood cancers. I assess patients’ suitability for systemic anti-cancer therapy and, as a non-medical prescriber, I prescribe their cancer treatments too.”
The workload can mean there are often not enough hours in the day, with Martin acting as an independent practitioner with his own caseload of patients and working as an integral part of a multi-disciplinary team.
“I love patient contact and building a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is really important to me. I do my best to support patients and families during difficult times and to think I have made a difference brings a lot of satisfaction.”
Martin notes nursing has changed a lot since he qualified 20 years ago. Some nursing roles, such as his own, have seen nurses taking on tasks that would have been traditionally carried out by doctors.
He adds: “I’ve worked in cancer care throughout my career and the advances in cancer treatments, such as targeted treatments, have revolutionised care. Haematology is continually evolving, which makes it even more exciting to work in.”
Is there a typical working day?
“Well, that depends on what day of the week it is! I run lots of nurse-led haematology clinics, so there’s lots of patient contact: assessing, examining, prescribing. I also carry out bone marrow procedures, taking samples of patients’ bone marrow to help the team diagnose haematology disorders. I’m very lucky to work within a great team.”
And what’s next for Martin?
“I am where I want to be in my career,” he says. “That sounds a bit corny but it’s true. But I still have many years until I retire so who knows what will happen career-wise in the future? The future is bright for nursing.”
And for anyone considering nursing Martin has some final advice.
“Go and work in care first to give you a taste of what the reality of nursing is. It can mean working nights, weekends, Christmas Day. It can be very stressful…and very, very rewarding!”
If Martin’s story has inspired you to consider working in nursing, the range of jobs is broad and varied. No matter what experience or skill sets you have, you can find your own unique role.
And what better way to mark International Nurses Day on May 12th than to begin your own career with a nursing position from s1jobs?