NHS 75: Jill's 40 Years’ Service | Blog posts

For the NHS 75th birthday, we are celebrating the hard work and commitment of NHS staff - as well as encourage more people to work for the NHS.

With inspiring colleagues across all three of our hospital sites and within the community teams, we hear from Jill who has worked for the NHS for 40 years. Here is Jill's experience...

I came to Wakefield community as a staff nurse 39 years ago to work in a small, very supportive team. Not being from Wakefield my map book was my very best friend. The day started pretty much as it does now, administering insulin, then we did the "generals" i.e., getting people washed and dressed, then dressings and palliative care. 

I completed the 1 year District nursing course at Bradford college and worked evenings whilst I had my children. I went back to days when they started school and again worked in a small team covering a fairly small area. We got to know the local community and they knew us.

During the petrol strike local people drove us to visits when we ran out of petrol. We were offered (and drank) tea offered to us at the houses we visited accompanied by a biscuits in the other hand. We attended funerals and were treated like one of the family. If a colleague was held up with a palliative patient the rest of us willingly took all their visits, often working above and beyond but never complaining.

A big improvement was the introduction of walkie talkie bricks, and when we got mobile phones...well!

We worked closely with GPs and practice nurses providing an integrated and inclusive service. I did a smear clinic late afternoon; my colleague ran a diabetic clinic. As a general rule, the practice nurse saw non housebound patients and community nurses saw the housebound. Ideas and knowledge were shared with no boundaries.

Teams then got joined together, and the personal touch wasn’t always possible. I became a practice nurse for 4 years and did some work for Marie Curie, but community nursing is in my blood, which is why I returned.

The workload and patients can be challenging at times, but community nursing is still amazing. To be able to be there for patients in their hour of need, support their loved ones and still manage to smile is a skill and an honour.