This year, for Learning at Work Week we look to Becky and Rachel - Demelza's first Band 4 Nursing Associates.

Becky shares her journey, from Healthcare Assistant to newly qualified Nursing Associate:

“I wasn’t actually convinced I’d get on the course – I applied on the off-chance, and ended up one of Demelza’s first two Nurse Associates!” That’s what Becky Bristow, our newly qualified Nurse Associate, had to say about her superb achievement when we sat down to speak to her about the Access to Nursing course.

“I’d been a Healthcare Assistant for 12 years with Demelza, and although I’d thought about going for a nursing qualification, I couldn’t put my family life on hold and quit my job to go on a course for however many years. That’s what made the Nurse Associate course with Demelza so attractive – the fact it’s an apprenticeship, so I was still able to be working with a proper income while also earning a new qualification.”

The care team also lent Becky a hand when it came to coursework. “Oh yeah, I sent them some essays” she laughed. “This is the first time in my life where I’ve had to write proper essays, and that was – at times – really daunting. But yeah, the nurses were always happy to look over a bit of coursework for me and tell me if I’d missed anything or if something could be worded more clearly. Everyone here was so supportive. I was really lucky because obviously some of the other students worked in hospitals – during full-blown COVID – and it would have been impossible to ask a nurse somewhere like that to take time out of their day to proofread an essay. It’s not like we were laid back here during COVID! But because we worked on a shift pattern, it was much easier to stick to my protected learning hours and make time for the theoretical stuff as well as the practical.”

Work placements

Becky also had the opportunity to do work placements through the course, giving her the chance to work in other healthcare settings and gain experiences she wouldn’t have had otherwise. “The Nurse Associate course covers all age groups, so my placements were really varied. I worked in a GP surgery, a care home working with dementia patients, I did some time with a local private hospital which I absolutely loved, and lastly with a community nursing team that offers support to people just coming out of hospital who need a bit of step-down care. Each one was totally different and they gave me a much broader understanding of healthcare generally speaking.”

Now that she’s qualified, Becky is excited to be able to take the strain off the nursing team, taking on things like initial patient assessments and drawing up care plans supported by a registered nurse. She is also planning on doing a preceptorship in the near future, where she will be mentored for 6-12 months by a senior member of staff, to reinforce the skills she learned on the course and gain more familiarity with the clinical care she is now able to provide. “People keep telling me to do the next 18 months and become a Registered Nurse – I know that’s possible but I’m saying ‘hang on, I’ve only just started this!’ I’m really excited to be a Nurse Associate because it’s a brand new and evolving role, and I get to be at the forefront of that. I’m not looking to the next thing yet, I want to see what this role can turn into.

“I would recommend the course to anyone who’s thinking about their next step in healthcare. I won’t lie and say it was easy, because it was a really hard two years, but now that it’s done it’s such an exciting position to be in."