Real-life story - Memory Ruzvidzo

As a general practice nurse I get the opportunity to see various people and illnesses so no two days are ever the same. On a typical day, I help patients with a range of minor illnesses ranging from coughs and colds to skin rashes and back pain. In a treatment room, I also get to do a number of things such as wound management, cervical smear testing and give flu jabs.

On the days that I work in a diabetic clinic, I check patient’s blood pressures as well as their weight and height. I also discuss their blood test results with them and give advice on how to manage and achieve healthy sugar levels.

I am also a primary care nurse tutor and this means that I am responsible for supporting staff to access the education and training, career development and mentorship opportunities available in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. For this role, I work for my local clinical commissioning group and Health Education England. I enjoy this part of my job as it gives me insight on how training places and are commissioned and I find this to be very fascinating!

What I like most about my role is that I can draw on a wide range of nursing skills in order to help the patients that I see. Coming across lots of different illnesses in a single day means that I am continuously learning and this is one of the biggest highlights of the role.

I also enjoy being able to provide continuous care and following my patient’s recovery from the moment they come in with a problem to when they’re treated. I am able to build good relationships with many of my patients and it’s very satisfying when we’re able to provide them with treatments that mean they can stay in the comfort of their own home rather than being admitted into a hospital. Working in a multi-disciplinary team is also interesting and I feel very much a part of the team.