Meet our staff - Suzannah's story

I was very interested in human biology and did well in this subject at school and only looked at healthcare professions. I couldn’t afford to do physio training, so I went for nursing. 

After school I went to college on a Pre-Nursing Course including Social Biology A Level. While I was at college I worked as a care assistant in a residential home. At that time nursing was a popular career with waiting lists to start training. I applied to lots of schools of nursing and took the first place that came up.

I did my RGN training in 1984. After a varied career across the UK working in A&E I became a General Manager in the Ambulance Service. When I took voluntary redundancy from this role, I started my Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) training to become a Health Visitor. I qualified in 2015 and have loved working in the community ever since. 

Each of my career changes has given me incredible opportunities and being in the NHS there are many paths to choose. I think the most important one was starting my nurse training 

This role takes compassion, kindness, honesty, courage and above all being a human amongst humans. 

My advice would be to be open to all the opportunities that nurse training has to offer. Take courageous steps, work and study to the best of your ability.