Save one life you’re a hero. Save 100 lives you’re a nurse. #NHS

Earlier this week I got my sixth cycle of chemotherapy at the Cancer Unit of my local district hospital.

Once again I’ve had the very best of treatment administered by a team of wonderful specialist nurses.

Now, I’m having 48 hours of chemotherapy at home and  a community nurse will come and take the pump down later this afternoon.

The community nursing team covers an extensive rural area and the logistics involved in getting  the nurses to the right patients at the right time must be a challenge for the admin. team.

Sometimes the community nurses are known as District Nurses and one of the team caring for me has a name badge which identifies her as a District Nurse while her colleagues are Community Nurses. I still haven’t managed to work out the reason but whatever their designation all the nurses in the team are fantastic.

The photos accompanying this blogpost are District Nurses in training in 1944. The uniforms and equipment have changed but the nurses role in caring for sick people remains the same. Chatting to my chemo nurse about her job she told me how much she loved her work. “I’ve always wanted to give something back,” she said, “and in this work I know I can.”

We don’t value the nurses in our NHS enough.

They haven’t had a pay  rise for years. When they went into the job they knew they wouldn’t get rich. But they should get a wage that recognises their skill set, the pressures they’re working under and the contribution they make to the well being of our whole nation.

The quote at the top of this blogpost came from Top 10 Quotes for Nurses.

I liked this quote from Maya Angelou too:

They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Thanks for reading my blog today.