Nicola Lyons

Nursing Auxiliary, Mater Hospital

I went into this course and came out a different person

I’m doing the K100 Understanding Health & Social Care course at the moment and loving it. It’s a lot of work and I have to juggle my study time with my two young boys. Because I have two children and am a single parent I’m job sharing my post as a nursing auxiliary. I really like my job, there’s a good team and I get a lot of encouragement from the other staff. I’ve done my NVQs, and they gave me a real taste for learning, I see the K100 as a good next step because I’d really like to become a nurse. As an auxiliary we are doing a lot of day to day jobs caring for patients and I think I’ve all the skills to be a nurse, but not the qualification. I couldn’t go to College full time, so this route offers a real opportunity to realise my potential.

Through UNISON I also did the Building Confidence for Women, I went in and came out a different person. I wouldn’t be a confident person, if someone said to me that my hair was nice, I’d be scunnered and just mumble a response. But at the course we practised taking compliments in groups, and we had really good discussions about why women aren’t more confident in certain situations. Before I did that course I would see jobs or training advertised in the hospital, but I didn’t have the confidence to go for them or even find out more information. After Building Confidence for Women I undertook my NVQ which got me to the K100 and perhaps my dream of becoming a nurse.