Originally, I thought what Jacky Renahan had to say would be a good reflection of what it was previously like to be a nurse and the interview could contribute a bit of context.

Nonetheless, the more current nurses I interviewed, the more I realised there have been few improvements since and current nurses echo her thoughts and feelings. She invited me into her home and after a good cup of tea and meeting her dog, we spoke about her history and why she became a nurse.

Jacky was a pediatric palliative care nurse for 13 years before going into early retirement. She trained as a disability nurse in the 1980’s, working with children which is her forte, saying proudly that she is a big kid at heart herself.

As time passed, she realised most of the children she worked with had a limited life span and so, as the first children’s hospice in Luton opened in March 2000, she made the decision to switch course to pediatric palliative care.

Two years in, she did her conversion course from learning disabilities to pediatric nurse training and then later took early retirement.

She told me about what it was like to deal with grief and whether she regretted the job or not.