Nurse marking 50 years has no plans to retire

10 minutes ago

Shariqua AhmedPeterborough

News image — Denise Rich said she felt proud to have served so many people and their families over the years

North West Anglia Foundation NHS Trust Denise, a woman, in a brown and white striped nursing uniform with a yellow name badge pinned on it. She is smiling for the camera. She is sitting down on a blue chair, with mostly white-coloured patterned wallpaper behind her. — Denise Rich said she felt proud to have served so many people and their families over the years

A nurse who began her career as a teenager is marking 50 years of service and caring for patients in the NHS.

Denise Rich, who joined Peterborough City Hospital in 1980, continues to work at the site as a children's advanced nurse practitioner.

She had started her nursing journey at 17 and trained at Northampton General Hospital School of Nursing.

Despite many "ups and downs", she said she felt "privileged" to have seen the changes in the NHS over the years, adding that she had "no plans to retire yet".

"The NHS has changed dramatically with many more opportunities for nurses and other professionals to specialise or adapt their roles," she said.

"The environment of our hospitals now are more patient-orientated, and the patient is much more involved in their care."

North West Anglia Foundation NHS Trust Denise, a woman, wearing a nursing white hat and a brown and white polka dot dress, smiling for camera. — Denise Rich started her nursing training when she was 17 years old

Rich has also worked as a sister on a burns unit and at a paediatric intensive care unit in London.

"Seeing families who I have cared for is incredibly rewarding and I enjoy stopping for a chat," she said.

"It is so important to treat patients the way you would want your loved ones, or yourself, to be treated."

Jo Bennis, chief nurse at the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Peterborough, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland hospitals, said: "We feel privileged to have Denise as part of our nursing team.

"She has built an amazing wealth of knowledge over the years, which is such a bonus for our patients."

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