Kate Barry, Nurse Associate

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Female stood by Inpatient Unit Reception in nursing uniform.

I qualified through an apprenticeship as a registered Nurse Associate.

It’s a fantastic opportunity as I had my children quite young and never thought I’d get there. It’s been brilliant that I’ve actually been able to fulfil my dreams and with the love and support from all my colleagues here on the Inpatient Unit.

How did you hear about the opportunity?

I was given the opportunity the train as a nurse after seeing an advert on the Intranet at the Charity while working as an Health Care Assistant.

While I was working as a Health Care Assistant, I saw an advert on our intranet, our internal website here at Arthur Rank Hospice. I applied through it from there and I had an interview here and they then forwarded my details to Anglia Ruskin University. I had an interview with Anglia Ruskin University and started in September 2021. It’s a two-year course, so you do the first two years of the BSE Nursing to be registered so I registered on the NMC register. You can have the opportunity to top up, so you can do another 18 months’ top up to become a Band 5.

Did you enjoy the course?

Yeah, it was really good and really interesting. I had external placements in the community at Papworth Hospital, Addenbrookes Hospital and within Arthur Rank Hospice as well. It helped to get more knowledge and expand the knowledge I already had. It was really good. I think it helps starting as a Health Care Assistant and then step up and progress.

How was it juggling family and work?

It was hard and really challenging juggling three children, work and a mortgage and everything else but they’re really, really proud of me. Mum and Dad came to my graduation because they were so proud!

My daughter is 12 years old and I think I’ve inspired her to be a Nurse. She asks me questions all the time and flicks through my books. I’ve shown her a path that she could go down.

It is a dream come true. At school I always wanted to be a Nurse and I never thought I’d get there and to be given this opportunity is just wonderful!

You can also see a video of Kate explaining this here.