Nurse Jane celebrates 50 years

Jane marked her half century of service with a shift on the Main Outpatients Department at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH), where she has worked for the last nine years of an exceptional career.

The 66-year-old began her nursing life as a cadet at Wrexham’s Maelor Hospital on 5 September 1974, before moving to RJAH in Oswestry for the first time in 1978, where she spent 18 months working on the spinal injuries unit.

She also went on to work at Chirk Hospital and Nightingale House, though it was as a community nurse that she spent the bulk of her career – working in and around the Ruabon area, and as a Community Sister in Oswestry for 10 years.

“I’ve enjoyed my time as a nurse,” she said. “It was all I ever wanted to do from when I was little. I’m not stopping just yet – the plan is that I will retire in two more years.

“I look back on it and there are so many memories. Getting my nursing degree and then getting my Masters were probably two of my personal highlights and achievements I can look back on with pride.

“The job has changed a lot over the years. The patients used to stay in bed longer and you really had time to get to know them.

“That was nice, but it’s different now, and it is better for them that they can get home sooner. It’s change, but it is change for the better overall.”

Jane’s 50th anniversary was not allowed to pass quietly by her colleagues, who organised a surprise gathering for her.

That was attended by current and former colleagues, as well as senior nursing staff at RJAH and the Chief Executive Stacey Keegan, herself a nurse by background.

Stacey said: “We are so fortunate to have Jane working as part of our team in the Main Outpatients Department. She brings so much experience and knowledge, and that is to the benefit of our patients.

“I congratulate her on reaching 50 years of nursing, and I am delighted that we get to keep her for a little longer yet.”