I’ve worked in various roles, starting as a croupier in a casino before moving into the health care sector where my first job was in a residential home in Devon.

After being a support worker for two disabled people who lived independently in a shared house in Wales I moved back to Birmingham in 2014 to Moundsley Hall Care Village, a company I still work for. I joined as a health care assistant and progressed to become a team leader overseeing a team of staff.

During the Covid-19 pandemic I was off work shielding for 17 weeks and when I returned the unit I’d worked in had shut down, so I joined the main unit as an administrator. Quite quickly I took on responsibility for things such as data protection along with moving and handling training, staff rostering, managing annual leave requests and audits ensuring the safe running of the home.

Doing this work involved talking with colleagues when they had concerns at work and speaking with the family members of residents who’d passed away, often when they were understandably upset.

By then, I’d wanted to do nursing for a long time but having a family and a mortgage meant it wasn’t feasible, especially financially. 

Mortality

What really pushed me was losing my dad in 2023. It suddenly made me aware of my own mortality, and I decided it was the moment to do the thing I really wanted to do to provide a better life for my family.      

I see my journey into nursing as an opportunity to bring a different perspective and life experience to the profession. Being a mature student with a young family certainly comes with its challenges, but it also provides a strong sense of motivation and resilience. Juggling studies, family life and other commitments has taught me valuable time management and adaptability skills – qualities that are essential in nursing.

I hope my experience also encourages others from non-traditional backgrounds to pursue a career in nursing. Representation matters, and I’m keen to show that nursing is a career for anyone with the passion and dedication to care for others regardless of age, gender or any other background.

Confidence has grown

Doing my degree has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. In adolescence I struggled with anxiety and very low self-confidence. Since joining Newman University, my confidence has grown – to the point of no longer being daunted by answering questions in a lecture theatre of 200 fellow students.

I regarded standing for the Students Committee as an opportunity to push my confidence and knowledge boundaries a little further, to try to show that anyone really can go out and achieve something regardless of their own history.

I’m really looking forward to engaging with and supporting our student members and our RCN Student Ambassadors and representing their best interests over the next two years that I’m on the committee.