Never Having Second thoughts

My Life Choices

A post by Nanny of Munchkin

As I approach a rather big birthday, I can look back on my career and feel rather pleased with how things went, would I have done anything different? Absolutely not.

I knew from the age of 11 that I wanted to be nurse, followed by a career in midwifery and never even considered another occupation. I choose my ‘O’ levels accordingly and applied at the age of 15. I was given a place on the course, dependent on my exam results, to commence when I was close to 18. This was not a life choice, it was an absolute given.

In May 1979 I started and had a hard working, but rewarding 3 years of training, with a really lovely group of people, some who I am still friends with today. Training was very practical in those days, you learnt on the job and was never supernumerary. As a second year student you could be in charge on a night shift which would never be heard of today. It was scary at times, but being thrown in the deep end was a quick way to learn.

After qualifying in 1982, I spent 1 year on a medical ward and the next 23 years on a paediatric unit. I loved working with babies and children and liked the variety of specialities, medicine, surgery, orthopaedics, urology etc.

The great thing about nursing was that when I had my family, I could work part-time nights so maintaining a career, with little time away from my children.

In 2006, came my first major life choice. I decided to leave my job to start training in midwifery, to follow my original career plan. For many reasons this did not work out and six months later, I was unemployed.

I found a job within 3-4 weeks and this became the best job I ever had. I started work at a local Walk-In-Centre and spent 12 very happy years there, with again, many lovely colleagues. I had returned to a job where patients had a huge variety of conditions, with expanded my knowledge immensely. Each shift was interesting and though hard work, time would fly by. So, although midwifery did not work out, it led to greater things and the highlight of my career.

The responsibility increased over the years and the staff changed. Some shifts became overwhelming and the pressure increased, so I decided to try another change of career to a less challenging role and returned to the local hospital to work in a day clinic. Generally it was a good move and I enjoyed the work, but some of the staff were not very friendly and after one year, I decided to take early retirement.

This was a huge decision, as I would loose a large amount of my pension, but after waying up the pros and cons I finally left in 2019.

Again this worked out for the best, with my Dads rapidly deteriorating health, I was on hand for both my parents as needed. Today, I still look after my Mum, although my Dad has now passed away.

So after 40 years of working for the NHS, I feel I have done my bit. My career has been interesting and when it came to opting for a different pathway, it always worked out for the best, no second thoughts required.

Thanks for reading,

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