From delivering babies to meeting Princess Diana, Maureen Wallis celebrates 50 years of nursing
From delivering babies to meeting Princess Diana, Maureen Wallis has had an incredible 50 years making a difference in people’s lives.
Maureen is celebrating 50 years of nursing in the NHS, during which time she has cared for patients in Wakefield, Dewsbury, Leeds, and Manchester.
Her nursing career began on September 8, 1975, when she stated training at Withington Hospital in Manchester. It was there she completed her training on burns and plastics.
In 1977, she moved to St James’ Hospital in Leeds and after completing her midwifery course, she returned to general nursing in Orthopaedics.
In 1982, Maureen moved to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.
In 1994, she moved to Clayton Hospital as a Junior Sister on secondment before moving back to Pinderfields where she worked in Urology – her favourite speciality.
A move then to Ward H followed by Gate 34 as a Senior Sister before moving to Dewsbury Hospital in 2017, where she currently works on the Elective Surgical Unit/Day Surgery on Ward 12.
During her time, there have been many different highlights to her nursing career.
She recalls meeting King Charles (Prince of Wales at the time) and Princess Diana when they visited the Burns Unit at Pinderfields Hospital soon after the Bradford fire.
And Maureen says she has seen ‘many changes in the way that hospitals operate.’
She can remember the times when staff got dressed up and celebrated Christmas on the wards with the patients, and where the doctors carved the turkey.
Maureen said: “Things were very different in those days and a lot has changed for the better.”
“I remember when patients were allowed to smoke cigarettes in their hospital beds and when ‘back rounds’ were a thing.
"On a ‘back round’ the nurses would go round with a big trolley, checking patients for pressure ulcers and changing beds.
“At that time, they even used egg white and oxygen as a treatment for pressure ulcers,” she said.
Maureen can also recall when hoists weren’t a thing, and when it came to lifting patients up to move them, the nurses had to perform a back breaking ‘Australian lift.’
She said: “I am so proud of the nursing profession and being part of it for 50 years.”