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Graduate nurse is realising her dreams at Northumbria Healthcare

An award-winning graduate is fulfilling a life-long nursing ambition – thanks to a University apprenticeship.

Gillian Fraser always knew she wanted to be a nurse, and after completing her Specialist Community Practitioner Masters last winter, she has landed her dream job as community matron at Ponteland.

On her new role, Gillian said: "The skills that I've gained from this course have enabled me to progress and I will be using those clinical skills, my prescribing skills and all the other bits and pieces that I was taught sort of assessment and things like that in my new role, which I'm really excited about."

However, the mum-of-three’s road to nursing success wasn’t straightforward.

At 16, Gillian completed a pre-nursing course, but life took her in another direction, and she ended up following a career that led her to become a senior analyst at a well-known lab. 

Although she had a well-paid job and a happy and healthy family, Gillian's mind always wandered to what her life could have been had she become a nurse.

Then in 2012, a shock redundancy gave Gillian the push she needed to take the plunge and pursue her true passion in nursing.

This new path eventually led Gillian to the University of Sunderland. While studying for her Masters, Gillian was able to continue working for Northumbria Healthcare, which is heavily involved in improving care in the community and has a real focus on the progression and development of district nursing roles. 

During her studies, Gillian received a Queens Nursing Institute Award; an academic prize offered to the top-performing student of the District Nursing SPQ programme across universities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"To be put forward for it was wonderful, but to actually receive it was just phenomenal," she said.

"There's not a lot said around district nursing, we’re a bit of a hidden service, so this is something that I feel really proud of. I'm kind of flying the banner and getting a little bit more information out there about what we do and how we work and to receive recognition for doing that is just fantastic. So, I was absolutely thrilled."

Beth Hill, Community Nursing Specialist Practitioner and Programme Leader (District Nursing Apprentice) at the University, said: "Gillian was awarded the Philip Goodeve-Docker Memorial Award for her academic excellence. She was nominated for this award due to her outstanding achievement during her time at the University."

So, what does the future hold for Gillian?

"I wouldn't say it's all planned out, but I'm really excited and a lot of that excitement is down to the experience that I had at the University of Sunderland and gaining the skills I need and having had the support from them, which has just been fantastic," she said.

"I’m still not a finished article, so looking forward to putting those skills into practice and becoming a confident, competent practitioner."

More information on the University of Sunderland's district nursing apprenticeship is available here.

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