A MENTAL health and learning disabilities trust that offers services across Oldham is marking International Nurses Day with a Florence Nightingale mural.
The famous ‘Lady with the Lamp’ image of the founder of modern nursing, has been recreated as a mural using photos of 180 nurses from Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.
As a symbol to reflect nursing in 2021, a face mask has also been added.
Clare Parker, executive director of nursing and a learning disability nurse, at Pennine Care, said: “International Nurses Day marks the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birthday; what better way to celebrate the dedication and commitment for our nursing workforce than to create this amazing piece of artwork.”
Pennine Care’s nursing workforce makes up nearly a third of its staff with nurses caring for and treating adults, young people and children both in hospital and the community.
Speaking of her own nursing inspiration, Kameka Sarju,36, a mental health nurse at Royal Oldham Hospital who started as a nursing assistant in 2012, said: “My grandmother was an auxiliary nurse from the Windrush era – she worked here in Oldham and she was most definitely my biggest inspiration to become a nurse.”
Kameka Sarju, mental health nurse
Oliver Nugent, 28 also a mental health nurse was similarly inspired by a family member to join the NHS.
Oliver Nugent, mental health nurse
Ahead of starting his new position as a senior liaison practitioner, Oliver said: “It was really thanks to my dad that I got into nursing. I was working in a restaurant and he sat me down and told me I needed to focus on something new; he thought mental health nursing might be a career that I would be good at and he was right, I absolutely love it.”
Amy Fletcher,25, who lives in Oldham became a community learning disability nurse after graduating with a learning disability nursing and social work degree three years ago.
Amy Fletcher, community learning disability nurse
She said: “I have a brother who is diagnosed with a moderate learning disability, autism and dyspraxia. Caring for my brother and growing up seeing the challenges my mother had to face gave me a passion to improve the care and welfare of vulnerable people.
“The best thing about my job is that I help people make their own choices and achieve a good quality of life. As a society we have a tendency to treat people differently because of their ‘disability’ but they have a right to make their own choices as much as I do.”
For Pennine Care’s latest nursing job vacancies, visit www.penninecare.nhs.uk/jobs.
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