‘Nursing is not just my potential job, but a part of who I am becoming’ | Nursing Times

I was asked to attend on behalf of the student editors for Nursing Times. While it was a very long day, especially as I travelled there and back from South Yorkshire, it was one of the highlights of my nursing journey. I would like to share with you a couple of the lessons that I learnt and the moments that will stay with me.

“We all stood together to celebrate our profession and the passing of the lamp”

In the morning, we heard a talk delivered by Greta Westwood, the chief executive of the Florence Nightingale Foundation. She shared with us her personal story of how she spent time in the hospital as a child and came into nursing later in her life after becoming a parent, still inspired by the nurses who once cared for her.

I reflected on this and how each and every one of us has a story and a reason we came into nursing. It is this story and this reason that keeps us going through the challenges our degree and career throws at us.

In the afternoon, I watched two panels present themselves and their journeys. The first was a selection of early career nurses, and the second was established leaders within nursing.

While the journeys were very different, and there was a contrast in the experiences between the early and later career nurses, there were also a lot of similarities. Both groups of nurses showed the same tenacity, resilience and drive to leave the universities, workplaces, and lives touched better than they found them.

Each nurse who spoke to us over the day expressed a desire to improve and make a difference. It was truly inspirational and highlighted how any nurse, from student to CEO, can make a difference and be a leader in their own right.

The highlight of the day had to be the service at Westminster Abbey. This is such an incredibly beautiful building, steeped in history. As soon as I stepped in, I was in admiration of all the details, the ceilings, and the stained-glass window.

As everyone took their seats, I watched as old friends greeted each other, and I even made some new acquaintances myself. The sunlight streamed through the stained-glass window, filling the abbey with rainbows and a sense of peace. It was time for the service to begin.

In that one hour, I had never been prouder to be becoming a nurse. Each reading and hymn spoke of compassion and courage, two of the strongest values that Florence Nightingale possessed and are still prized in nursing today.

As we listened to the speakers and observed a moment of silence for the brave nurses who lost their lives while saving others, a sense of unity enveloped us.

I looked around me to see student nurses, early career nurses, nursing leaders, and retired nurses. We all stood together to celebrate our profession and the passing of the lamp, the passing of the art and science of nursing, to each generation.

I have had ample time to reflect on my attendance at the student day and service. For me, nursing is not just my potential job, but a part of who I am becoming. I spoke to retired nurses who still identify as a nurse because it has become part of their person.

The values of nursing are not just the values we apply to our work, they are the values we live our life by.

Jess Pidcock is a second-year children’s nursing student at Sheffield Hallam University and 2023-24 Nursing Times student editor