Mother fulfils her dream to become a nurse alongside her daughter
A mother and her daughter are celebrating after graduating and starting their nursing careers at the same time.
Kelly Beaman, a healthcare assistant at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), thought she had missed her opportunity to train as a nurse.
But when Kelly attended a university open day with her daughter Grace Asterley, who wanted to become a nurse, she discovered that she held the relevant qualifications and practical experience to access a course too.
Grace was accepted for a nursing degree in Children’s Nursing and Kelly was accepted for Adult Nursing.
The three years were not without their challenges for both of them. Their studying was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a broken leg for Kelly and then the sad passing of Kelly’s dad (Grace’s grandad).
The ability to share their experiences and sometimes modules, spurred them both on along with a generous amount of healthy competition when results days loomed.
Both completed placements at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the RSH and Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford. Kelly received a Golden Ticket (a guaranteed job) for a role as Staff Nurse in Endoscopy at RSH and Grace secured a job in Paediatrics at PRH.
Kelly said: “Graduating and standing with my daughter, watching her whilst she graduated, was overwhelming and I beamed with pride. It has been one of the best experiences of my life, especially considering all the obstacles we overcame to get where we are now.”
Grace added: "Whilst starting university was daunting, being able to begin my journey with my mum by my side made it much easier. We were each other’s personal cheerleaders. I'm proud to say my mum and I are now qualified nurses doing what we love, but I am even more proud of my mum for fulfilling her dream 27 years later."
Hayley Flavell, Director of Nursing said: “Kelly’s journey into nursing is a real inspiration. It really does prove that it’s never too late to fulfil your dream of becoming a nurse.
“Congratulations to Kelly and Grace on completing their training and becoming such an important part of our nursing family. It is brilliant that we get to have both mother and daughter caring for our patients.
“There are so many different routes into nursing at the trust, and we would love to hear from anyone interested in joining our fantastic nursing workforce.”
