Why I left working in hospitals for a role in general practice

"When the opportunity came for me to work as a GP nurse it seemed like a final chance to find my calling."

GP nurse, Jadine, explains why she moved from wards into primary care, and why she loves her role, managing long-term conditions.

From being a child I had always aspired to be a nurse, to look after people, helping them when they’re most vulnerable and building back their confidence.

When I started my nurse training, I had no idea what to expect as I had never worked in a hospital and my first placement really made me second guess my decision.

The first few years of my life as a Registered Nurse were extremely challenging

I had many ups and downs, and was even able to finally have my neurodivergence discovered. Having been told this new information about myself and then was told about the unexpected death of my father.

His death gave me a drive to do more, learn more, go above and beyond.

In the first few years of my life as a Registered Nurse were extremely challenging. The culture of “see one do one” and having difficulties with feeling one of the team.

I felt like a square peg trying to squeeze into a round hole.

I felt like a square peg trying to squeeze into a round hole. As a part of the black community with my culture being Afro Caribbean I worked in lots of different wards, trusts and yet I saw no one who looked like me. I found I was too opinionated, too loud, too black is how it felt.

In hospitals I couldn’t find my passion, I had 7 years of it and had reached my limit. However, when the opportunity came for me to work as a GP nurse it seemed like a final chance to find my calling.

Managing long-term conditions as a GP Nurse

In General Practice it’s all about meeting QOF for the monetary reward for the Primary Care Network. I decided to look at it from another perspective, how to get the patients involved. I guess you could say it achieves two birds with one stone.

I help to manage people’s long-term conditions, I go through each part and work with them to find their new normal which will improve their quality of life.

They set their goals they engage with annual health checks because they know why they are important.

I did a short course on Motivational Interviewing and it was eye opening! Truly gave me a more human approach, patients often leave saying “I thought I was going to be told off”.

I am able to follow up patients and review any changes of treatment. Continuity for patients has been a great tool to improve compliance. I think Practice Nurses whether treatment room based or long-term condition focused can really make a positive impact on a persons life.

I think more Registered Nurses should pursue General Practice

The downside is we don’t have enough of us! It would be great for Registered Nurses and Nurse Associates to pursue general practice. I know there is some work to be done on making the wages more in line with NHS specialist nurses, but if you want to be a part of improving someone’s quality of life and have an interest in learning lots of skills then it’s absolutely unmatched! I’m able to get funding for becoming a non-clinical prescriber too.

I would love to see more black nurses but more importantly people of all diverse ethnicities coming into primary care.

I’m saddened that I don’t see more diverse ethnicities in the nursing team. There is a lot of patients who would benefit so much by having a nurse that looks like them, understands them and understands cultural differences.

I have been in the profession over a decade and in the next it would be welcome to see change. My advice? Don’t let the hurdles stop you, you could be amazing!