Disclaimer: At no time will any defining details of a patient, situation, or location be shared. Any stories shared are changed including interchanging details, to protect confidentiality. Any person engaging with this website that publishes details will be banned – please refer to AHPRA (Australia), NMC (UK), or the professional registration body for guidance and advice on your responsibility and accountability in the digital domain. Any information shared with me privately will remain private and will not be shared with a third party. This website and any views expressed by the authors or in comments are personal and are not to replaced by medical advice and all medical advice should be sought via your own medical practitioner. Content on this website may cover sensitive topics and anyone who feels triggered by the content of this website should seek help with their local health professional. Any person that shares their email for the purpose of updates or otherwise, will have their privacy respected and details will not be shared with any third parties.

Let me introduce myself – my name is Tammy and I am a 40-something mother of two beautiful daughters, doing life not just with them but with a husband I can honestly call my best friend. I am blessed to have lived on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast, Australia, surrounded with some of the world’s most beautiful beaches, before moving to England in December 2018 to work and live as expats for a period of time including throughout the Covid19 pandemic and beyond.

I have been a Registered Nurse since 2009, and before that I was a senior phlebotomist working all over south-east Queensland. This latest transition to UK nursing has allowed me to explore how to utilise my years of experience in the health care sector in nursing and beyond, and I am enjoying developing in my role as clinical nurse educator with added experience in recruitment, retention, resilience and culture change.  My nursing experience is quite varied and honestly when I look back over the years I’ve crammed quite a lot in.

Professional Nurse Advocacy
Restorative Clinical Supervision
Frailty/HCOOP
Palliative Care
Post Anaesthetic Recovery
Infectious Diseases
Surgical
Aged Care RN/CN
Medical
Haemodialysis
Nursing Research
Nursing/Healthcare Education

My goal is to be a resource to other nurses and nursing students within whatever trajectory they are on by providing nurse mentorship/support, along with sharing the experience of moving to and working overseas.

FAQ
Why did I want to become a nurse?
I have always had a caring nature and originally thought I would become a nanny. However, when I was in my teenage years I spent a lot of time with a family in our church whose child had Cystic Fibrosis. I spent a lot of time with her and eventually would help with her care whilst I was there including her hours of chest physiotherapy, and it was then I knew I wanted to be in the field of health. It wasn’t until I had experienced caring for my own child who was unwell for the first year of her life, that I knew it was nursing that was calling me. I feel that nursing fulfils my need to care for others, whilst giving me ongoing intellectual challenges and personal growth.

What has kept my passion of nursing alive?
I love that nursing is such a diverse career that is ever evolving. In nursing, you can specialise if you wish, but if you decide that you need a change for whatever reason, you can work towards a new area. I truly believe this keeps you refreshed and prevents the whole “this is how we have always done it” trap, and somewhat prevents burnout. Thats not to say I haven’t been burnt out – just that I am improving along the way.

What have I learned along the way?
1. Nursing comes with both the very good and the very bad, but if you support each other  with true kindness instead of “eating your young” so to speak, you can build life-long relationships and create change for the better.
2. Nurse bullies can be pretty tough to deal with, but it is up to each of us to hold ourselves and our behaviours accountable, and to stand up for what is right to prevent it.
3. Self-awareness will be your most precious nursing tool of all – if you know yourself you can be the most effective in all you do both for yourself and your patients.
4. As a nurse you have the power to transform even the worst experience for your patients into an experience of feeling truly cared for.
5. Nurse ROCK! (even on the really hard days that make you feel like you are an imposter or that you haven’t done enough).

Disclaimer:

At no time will any defining details of a patient, situation, or location be shared. Any stories shared are changed including interchanging details, to protect confidentiality. Any person engaging with this website that publishes details will be banned – please refer to AHPRA (Australia), NMC (UK), or the professional registration body for guidance and advice on your responsibility and accountability in the digital domain. Any information shared with me privately will remain private and will not be shared with a third party. This website and any views expressed by the authors or in comments are personal and are not to replaced by medical advice and all medical advice should be sought via your own medical practitioner. Content on this website may cover sensitive topics and anyone who feels triggered by the content of this website should seek help with their local health professional. Any person that shares their email for the purpose of updates or otherwise, will have their privacy respected and details will not be shared with any third parties.