Three Decades

The Class of September 1983 with our beloved tutor Leslie Brint

Exactly 30 years ago, I was a gauche, slightly immature twenty one year old Welshman. Who had just left a ' secure' yet mind numbingly boring career at the Nat West Bank for pastures new.
 I was also one of just seven brand new student nurses who entered their Mental Health Nurse Training at The Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester. We were nervous  little souls all told, and were an eclectic bunch that found themselves entering a vocation just as the demise of the old asylum system had been implemented .
It was all a long time ago
My nursing career has meandered from my training in Chester to staffing on a "Mother & Baby" Unit  at Bootham Park Hospital in York ( mums with Post puerperal depression and psychosis). From there I leapfrogged into general nursing in Sheffield, where I ended up at the flagship Spinal Injury Unit for over fifteen happy years.
Since our move to Wales, I have worked part time on Intensive Care
30 years all told........It's a sobering thought

And what has a career in nursing taught me?
Well
It's taught me the ability to read people, I think.
It's taught me a certain degree of sympathy and warmth for people
And it has homed a slightly irreverent sense of humour
But, I know that after three decades, I can now appreciate the fact that  its not that long before I can retire
 ......it's almost time to go, me thinks.

Hey ho
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Changing the subject... I thought you may appreciate a Winifred update.
Well Chris survived a day alone with her yesterday when I was at work and this morning, he gave her a quick early walk before he went to work, which was sweet of him.
The old bear continues to settle in quite nicely.