A brieft history of me and nursing and how I have come to where I am today.

Basically, nursing and medicine is kind of in the blood:

• My maternal grand-farther was a doctor.
• My maternal aunts and uncles were all doctors, surgeons or nurses.
• My paternal aunt was a nurse.
• My mother was a nurse also.
• My sister (#4) is a nurse, my other sister (#1) was a student nurse and has always regretted withdrawing, my other sister (#3) is considering going into nursing at nearly 50 years old and finally my other sister (#2) is a dentist. So basically, yes, I am from a large family (I am the youngest of 6) and yes, the health care profession is running through our veins.

However, growing up I never really wanted to do nursing. I considered it from time to time but never considered it as a real possibility. My mother always told me 'never go into nursing, it's changed too much, it's all paper work and management these days' so that never helped the situation. At a young age I remember my stomach churning as my mother and sister #4 spoke about blood, guts, poop and a whole lot more as we sat down for dinner.

At school I was not overly clever or bright. I have always struggled particularly with spelling. I am not lying or exaggerating when I say that I could not spell 'hello' at age 11 in year 7 of secondary school. In hindsight I am probably somewhere on the dyslexic scale but unfortunately have never been tested. However, in secondary school I slowly progressed and I realised with hard work I will be able to make something out of my GCSE's all of which I got C or above apart from French where I got a miserable E.

I went to college to study A-levels and I loved it. It was a chance to push myself and see what I could achieve. Not able to take biology as I did not have the B in GCSE required, I stuck with other subjects that interested me: Sociology, Business Studies, Philosophy and Classical Civilisation. I did ok in my A-levels and I did a hell of a lot better than I thought I could achieve 5 years before where I gained a BBCc  respectively. I went on to study Sociology and Educational Studies at the University of York, with a view to go in to teaching afterwards. I quickly realised the degree was not for me, I lost interest, stupidly missed a lot of lectures and just did not achieve the way I should have. My determination to see something through meant I graduated with a 2:2, sadly missing out on a 2:1. On the plus side, I had a great social life to take my mind off my degree. If only I could go back to the 19 year old me and tell myself to just sort it out! But I am not one for regrets, so I definitely feel I have learnt from my time at university. I must admit, York and the University of York were fantastic places to live and study and it is a shame I did not utilise my opportunities.

To be honest, until now, I have always been too immature for nursing. The idea of 'wiping someone's bum' put me off. And then I got a job as a carer, and before I started I dreaded the 'bum wiping'. From day 1, when I first gave personal care, something clicked and I realised it did not bother me one iota. So what, I thought, it is something we all need to have done, whether we are 1 or 99 years old or someone in between. It was as this point I realised straight away that if this was my loved one, I would want to ensure they are kept clean, comfortable and given the care they need in a dignified manner- it really is not too much to ask. It was from here that I finally had the maturity to work in the real world.

I loved working in care. I worked mainly with people with learning difficulties. I worked in a care home with elderly adults with a range of learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health disorders. I then went on to support a young lady in her own home with a range of complex needs. I loved this job. It gave me a chance to develop and build on my skills and knowledge. A list of which are below:

• Electronic Communication Aids
• Makaton
• PEG feeds
• Overseeing and administrating physiotherapy for muscles and to clear mucus from chest
• Using cough assist and suction machines
• Giving medication
• Applying dressings for bedsores
• Working with a range of health professionals; GP, Physiotherapists, community nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, speech and language therapists, just to name a few.

I moved from York to Leeds to live with my partner so I was still traveling and this was exhausting after shifts that started at 7.30am one morning and I finished 9.00pm the next day. During this time I was working a few different jobs, I've worked in cafes, in a college as learning assistances and I finished care to work a 9-5 job in an office. It was this job that made me realise I need to work in care, it is where my heart is and what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. Nursing will allow me to do this, while also constantly developing and updating my skills to become the best nurse I can possibly come.

When I started care, I had a view to go into speech and language therapy. I do think I would enjoy this but it is not as flexible as nursing. With nursing I love the idea that there are so many branches where you can develop your own niche.

So despite never seeing myself as a nurse when I was younger, now I can not see myself doing any other job.