International Nurses Day: I feel privileged to pursue a career I love
Hello, my name is Philomina and I’m a nurse at Newham Hospital. I originally trained as a nurse in my country of origin, Ghana.
When I moved to the United Kingdom, I started off as a healthcare assistant while waiting to transition to nursing. This is my second year working as a qualified nurse, currently in a seconded role as a sister on a geriatric ward.
I aspire to inspire
By nature, I have always been a very caring and compassionate individual and I always strive to do anything within my remit to help others. This is how I knew nursing would be the right career for me. Learning about people, their cultures and advocating for them when they are at their most vulnerable state are just a few of the things that attracted me to nursing. I feel truly privileged to pursue a career that I love and be able to make a difference to so many people’s lives.
Good nursing leadership involves motivating, inspiring and supporting nurses to excel in their practice and reach their full potential. This builds successful teams which leads to better staff retention rates and ultimately improved patient outcomes, benefitting the whole NHS. I have been fortunate to have had such great leaders on my career pathway who have challenged and motivated me to be where I am today. I aspire to inspire my colleagues to be the best they can be.
There have been ups and downs
Things have been very different this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and there have been ups and downs.
One of the most daunting parts of the pandemic was when we sadly lost one of our dear colleagues Raji. Raji was a healthcare assistant who had been working on the ward for years. I remember her positive encouragement and words of advice and her smile – it would light up the room when she walked in . Due to the pandemic, we could not attend her funeral, but we later managed to share beautiful memories of her with her family. The sudden loss of our colleague brought our team even closer together.
It has been challenging this past year, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to benefit my patient’s healthcare journeys and help get them well enough to go back to see their families. I love being able to build a rapport with the people I look after and that they can trust me with their lives. I enjoy having discussions with my patients and getting to understand what is most important to them. I will always remember a father who was on a ventilator, who asked whether I could write down a small note for his little daughter. I spent time listening and writing about all the lovely times he has had with his daughter. I became very emotional because I have a little girl myself and could imagine how he was feeling. At one point I had to excuse myself to go to the staff room to compose myself. A few minutes later, I came back to tell him how much his daughter loved him and is looking forward to seeing him once he is discharged, and to keep on fighting to get well. I was relieved when he was taken off the ventilator a few days later and started his recovery back home.
Brighter days ahead
As patients were unable to see their loved ones due to the restrictions in place, finding other ways to provide them with family support has been fundamental during this pandemic, We used alternative means of communication such as iPads allowed patients to keep in touch with their families. My experience during the pandemic has made me realise the importance of checking on loved ones, friends and families, often.
With the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine, I believe brighter days are ahead and that we can soon all get back to doing the things we love with those we love.