Hello, my name is...

Welcome. I’m Lauren, a 28 year old wife, dog lover and nurse. For the first post on my brand new blog I thought it would make the most sense to actually explain who I am and why I have something I wanted to say. Firstly, I have been a nurse for nearly 3 years and for most of it I have worked within respiratory including more recently pleural clinic. Secondly, I love my job. Lastly, I sometimes find that job challenging in ways I never realised possible and more rewarding than I can probably express. I wanted to start this blog as a space where the angry moments can be vented, the sad moments get their moment of silence and the joy gets the laughter and celebration it deserves. 

Let me go back a bit, I was raised in a small village with a big and supportive family. So when I decided to be a mental health nurse at the age of 18, everyone was behind me. I think it would be fair to say that I underestimated the challenges of university life and the particular mindset it takes to study nursing. 6 months later I failed my first exam and had essentially stopped going to uni. I was now 19 and very confused about what to do next. I began working in care, a  natural progression when your mum has worked in care her whole adult life and now was the manager of a nursing home. I loved it! Looking back on that time now, that job helped me to grow up and find my place in the world. A few years later I decided that actually nursing was for me, but more general nursing. I will not lie, university was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, I would not class myself as particularly academic but I did it despite that. Starting my nursing career was not at all what I expected. I think it is probably relevant to mention that it was September 2021. The hospital had changed, the nurses had changed and morale was low. Between this and starting in a ward with high nursing to patient ratios, staff sickness and flipping the ward between ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ it made university feel like a breeze. I decided to move after only 6 months, it seemed like the obvious choice. Although most people told me that it was too soon, I quickly discovered that I had found my new home. Instantly, I knew respiratory was my speciality. I cannot really explain why this was the case. Every day I feel challenged and my desire to learn is sparked constantly. You may be able to tell I feel very passionately about this. When the opportunity to spend half of my time in the pleural clinic arose I was eager to jump at the chance. 6 months later I love working at the pleural clinic, it is so different to working on the ward. I really enjoy the variety and being able to build a rapport with the patients. 

Thank you for joining me for my first blog.

See you next week and remember to breathe.