From Recovery to Fertility: Sally Rose’s 33-Year Nursing Journey

Sally Rose shares her 33-year nursing journey, from anaesthetics to fertility care, showing how embracing change keeps nurses fulfilled and inspired.

In this conversation, Sally shares how she took a leap of faith to become a fertility nurse – a completely new field for her – and how the team at Nurse Seekers helped her make the transition. She talks candidly about transferable skills, overcoming doubt, the emotional side of fertility care, and, as I said, why she believes more nurses should embrace change instead of stepping away from the profession altogether.

Q: Sally, as a fertility nurse, what do you do each day?

A: So I'm a fertility nurse at a private clinic in Cardiff Centre. I've only been in that post seven weeks. Yeah, today's week, well week seven we're on. Brand new post to me. I've never done fertility nursing before.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your nursing background and how it led you to this new role?

A: I qualified 33 years ago as a registered nurse. So I started my training at 17. So I'm not a degree nurse, I'm a traditionally trained nurse. On qualifying, I worked on a ward for 12 months because that was deemed to be the thing to do in those days if you wanted to go off and specialise in an area that wasn't the ward. And I knew from my training that I wanted to go and do anaesthetics and recovery. So I did 12 months on the ward learning all the basics and then went and worked in anaesthetics and recovery and I've done approximately I think about 14, 15 years in anaesthetics and recovery. I went abroad to work in the Middle East as an anaesthetic and recovery nurse. I went for a year and stayed 13.

Q: What was that transition like – going from NHS nursing to private sector and then back again?

A: Out in the Middle East, it’s predominantly private healthcare and that’s where I’d ended up. So very different to working in the NHS. So it was a big switch going there for all sorts of reasons. A big switch in standards of care, a big switch in moving from NHS to private. And then just as big a switch when I came back 13 years later in all honesty and I didn’t really know what avenue I wanted to take. I felt I owed it to the NHS to go back to the NHS, which I did. And I did some interventional radiology nursing because I felt that that used all the skills that I had in my toolbox at that time.

Q: You’ve had quite a journey, including working in occupational health?

A: Yeah. I had some health issues I knew I needed surgery for and I wasn’t going to be able to do a physical nursing job for a good couple of years. So I went down the avenue of occupational health nursing and I started my occupational health nursing at Ford Engine Plant in Bridgend and I loved it and I really, really enjoyed it. I went back to university at the tender age of I think I was 47 when I went back to uni and did my diploma in occupational health and I loved it. But unfortunately, if you know the history of Ford in Bridgend, that closed. I did several other occupational health jobs but then found myself at Cardiff University doing occupational health for healthcare students. But I sat there one day and thought, I've probably got 15 years of my career left. Do I want to spend it in occupational health outside of the manufacturing environment? And the answer was no.

“If you're prepared to apply yourself and take on board a new area of knowledge, then you can go anywhere.” – Sally Rose

Q: So that was the turning point for considering a career in fertility nursing?

A: Yeah. I looked in my toolbox again at what I had and thought I'd spent quite a length of time out in the Middle East working in a women's hospital. So lots of obs [obstetrics] and gynae [gynaecology] and I really quite enjoyed that. I had my anaesthetic and recovery skills. I had skills from working on a ward. I'd had skills from working in a clinic, from other jobs. In the interim, I've gained skills in assessment and planning of care. And when I sat down and thought about it, I thought, do you know what? I could really fancy being a fertility nurse. And so I did lots of reading about it.

Q: How did Nurse Seekers help you in making this move?

A: I suppose initially it started with them with me ringing them and saying I’ve got a job description in front of me it’s something I’d really like to do but I’m not sure whether it’s worth me applying. And I said I’m gonna run down the list now of what they’re asking for and I’m gonna tell you how I feel I fit what they’re asking for. But I said, know, please tell me now if you think at this point that you're miles off. So we did, we went down the list and they were very encouraging and they said, yeah, absolutely, we think you should apply. So I did and I think within 10 days they were ringing back with good news and saying, you know, you've got an interview. Throughout it all, Nurse Seekers, they were very encouraging. They never once said, you know, don't have fertility nurse experience. I never once felt like I was just a bottom on a seat for interview purposes.

Q: What was it like being represented by an agency rather than applying directly?

A: I do find it frustrating going through an agency or, you know, a third party, because that's not the era I'm from, you know, used to apply direct to the ward. However, Jack was nothing but polite and he was like, ‘I will take that forward, I will take that forward and I will get back to you’. And so although I found it frustrating having a third person in the loop, he represented me really well and he didn’t leave me wondering at all. So yeah it was a great experience, very different to what I’m used to - but still a lovely experience.

“I was really surprised that I landed the fertility nurse job straight away… but they picked me and I’m thrilled they did.” – Sally Rose

Q: What does a fertility nurse actually do day to day?

A: From the last seven weeks I've been doing a lot of admissions of patients, not planning care end to end because I don't have those skills yet. But doing a lot of admissions ready for procedures and post procedure care and actually assisting with procedures in theatre. The plan is that I will be taught to do sonography in relation to fertility. And then the fertility nurse's job will be the whole remit… right from assessment right at the very start of a patient's journey, right the way through all the scanning process, all the medications and the consultations, right through to the actual procedures of egg collections, IVF, some minor investigations they do as well for infertility… that will be the full remit.

Q: It sounds a very emotional and sensitive nursing job. How are you finding that side of things?

A: Yes, you've got hopefully the joy of a lovely outcome. But you've also got the sadness that a lot of couples face from their infertility journey and how difficult it is for you. And like you say, the stressful side of that. It’s massively as well in today’s society about inclusivity, diversity, same-sex couples. We’ve had a big discussion this afternoon today on the legalities of egg donation, sperm donation and the legal consents that all need to be in place.

Q: You sound like someone who thrives on change. Have you always embraced career moves?

A: I’ve never been scared of moving jobs and taking on a new challenge. I think it’s a shame when nurses just go down one route and never consider going anywhere else… I would encourage all nurses, step out of your comfort zone, go and do something that maybe you just have an interest in, or you just like to go and see, and you might love it. And I just, yeah, I would encourage all nurses, step out of your comfort zone… give it your all while you’re there.

“Don’t walk away just because you’re feeling a little bit jaded... move. What have you got to lose?” – Sally Rose

Q: What would you say to nurses thinking about leaving the profession?

A: Nursing's a tough job and it's got increasingly tougher over the years. And I think if you're feeling a little bit stale or feeling down about the decisions you've made from a career point of view, don't walk away from it. Don't walk away from your qualification. Go and do something else with it before you make that decision. I've done all sorts. I've worked for Emirates Airlines, doing medicals for pilots. I've worked in a doctor's surgery. I've worked in a hospice. And yeah, don’t walk away just because you’re feeling a little bit jaded… move. What have you got to lose?

Q: Any final thoughts?

A: We’re losing a lot of nurses… it’s flipping expensive and time consuming to train a nurse and it’s hard going for the student. So to get through the other end and actually walk out with your degree — don’t walk away from it. Because we need nurses, don’t we?

About the author

Sally Rose is a fertility nurse with over 30 years’ experience, passionate about career growth, lifelong learning, and compassionate patient care.