Nurses 'proud' to celebrate 40 years of NHS care

Three nurses who all started their training at the same time are celebrating 40 years of service in the NHS.

Debbie Antoine, Kathy Eastwood and Sara Roles, who all work for the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) have remained close friends after meeting at the Southmead School of Nursing in 1985.

Ms Eastwood said through the early days, they lived together in the nurses' accommodation and supported each other, laying the foundations for lifelong friendships.

They joined others from their class to celebrate their 40-year anniversary.

Ms Antoine and Ms Roles work at Weston General Hospital (WGH), as an early pregnancy assessment nurse and a diabetes specialist nurse, respectively. Ms Eastwood works in family bereavement services at St Michael's Hospital in Bristol.

Ms Antoine said as a junior nurse, she was "so proud to put on my nurse's cloak for the first time and I am still very proud to be working in the NHS after 40 years".

In caring for women dealing with pregnancy loss, she said it is important to acknowledge their fears and anxieties and her team "take pride in supporting them… making a very sad experience the most bearable it can be".

Ms Roles said a key part of the three nurses' friendship was working together and supporting each other from the early days on the wards.

"We still see each other regularly [and] Kathy was even one of my witnesses when I remarried two years ago," she added.

And 40 years later, she said she is "still as passionate and proud about nursing and our wonderful NHS [and I'm] not quite ready to call it a day yet."

Ms Eastwood said: "My 40 years of nursing has been amazing and varied and I wouldn't have changed it for the world."

To celebrate, they joined the rest of the original nurses' class of 1985 at a reunion at the Aztec Hotel near Southmead.

"The common bond remained and lots of memories were discussed and laughed about. It's so lovely we're all still in touch," Ms Eastwood said.

Deirdre Fowler, Chief Nurse and Midwife for UHBW, said it was great to see how the three women had progressed through their careers and remained friends, adding the hospital trust was lucky to have such "dedicated and caring colleagues".

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