Wendy was poorly as a child and had to visit hospital regularly, but she loved seeing the nurses and decided she wanted to be one when she was older.
In her teens, Wendy’s Granny was diagnosed with aggressive dementia and was admitted to a long-stay ward at a mental hospital.
“I was very close to Gran,” explains Wendy “and when she was in the hospital a nurse called Sister Storey encouraged me to care for her. So I washed Gran’s hair, helped to feed her and with Sister Storey’s encouragement I decided that I wanted to be a dementia nurse. She was my role model and I wanted to be like her.”
Wendy worked as an auxiliary nurse and completed her nurse training in the early 1980s. After qualifying she worked as a staff nurse part time whilst her children were young. After completing her nursing degree, Wendy specialised in older people’s nursing and became a nurse prescriber. She was promoted to a role which included setting up dementia services across Hertfordshire.
A cancer diagnosis meant Wendy took 2 years off nursing but she recovered and eventually returned to full time nursing in her current role as a community mental health nurse.
“I work in the community doing new assessments on patients referred to the team,” explains Wendy “I like working with people and it’s good to see people getting better. I love my colleagues, they really make the job for me.”
Wendy was nominated for a Cavell Star Award for going above and beyond for her colleagues. Team mate and Team Operational Manager Jan Gardiner explains,
“Wendy spends time and listens to team members, advising and positively supporting colleagues and students. During the Covid-19 pandemic she was in the office and out in the community every day providing support to the patients of colleagues who were forced to shield, feeding back and reassuring them that their patients were safe and doing ok.
“Wendy is there for all the team and has just retired and returned. I feel she deserves recognition for over forty years of selfless devotion to her colleagues and to her nursing role.”
Wendy reacted to winning her award,
“It as a beautiful thing to happen, I was really surprised!” she recalls “Everybody strives to do a good job but to have that recognition, especially after you’ve had a long career, I felt really honoured and a bit overwhelmed. I’ve dedicated my life to nursing.
“My team are like my second family, we’ve got a really special relationship now, especially going through Covid with them.”