Every month the Guardian newspaper publishes a 5 minute interview with a Healthcare Professional. Before she leaves I asked the same questions of Trish Brown, who has been a Practice Nurse at Wyndham House Surgery for 25 years.
Five minutes with…..Trish Brown, Lead Practice Nurse at Wyndham House Surgery
Describe your role in a sentence:
Lead practice nurse at Wyndham House Surgery, with special responsibility for prevention, screening, management, support and education in all aspects of clinical and long term care.
Why did you want to work in healthcare?
I didn’t – my mother thought it would be a good idea and organised an interview; the expectation in those days was that any career would stop as soon as you got married and had children.
How do you see the sector (General Practice) change in the next five years?
General Practice will have an expanding more streamlined role in preventing hospital admissions and caring for people in the community; nurses will have greater responsibilities; units will be bigger with more shared resources.
My proudest achievement at work was….
Developing a high quality system of diabetes care and using it as a model in my teaching role.
The biggest challenge facing the NHS is…
The ever increasing demands on its resources; with both an expanding elderly and a younger overweight population, with multiple health needs requiring many more costly treatments.
The people I work with are…
Supportive, caring, delightful and interesting; a great team!
I have worked with and met many amazing people.
I do what I do because…
I love my job and get great satisfaction from it.
Sometimes people think that …..
…my job is simple, but it requires much patience, especially with the elderly who require a great deal of support, lifestyle advice and education.
Right now I want to….
Well it’s a lovely spring day outside, so I would like to pull my boots on and go for a nice long walk with my husband!
At work I’m always learning that….
You never know it all. There is always new information. It’s a constant and fascinating learning curve.
The one thing always on my mind at work is….
Keeping to time.
If I could go back 25 years and meet my former self I’d tell them….
Having a fulfilling career will give you self- confidence and that you can push yourself beyond your expectations and never to dismiss any opportunities.
What is the best part of yourself?
That I can communicate with people and patients on all levels at their level, from professors to the man in the street.
What is the worst part of your job?
Policies and protocols
What makes you smile?
That I’m just so lucky to live and work in such a wonderful and beautiful place, have a very fulfilling job and a happy home life. Every day makes me smile.
What keeps you awake at night?
Last night it was Molly my dog – she had just had an operation yesterday and I had to check on her several times last night to check she was OK.