The mum-of-four has been able to return to education for the first time in 18 years alongside her work
A woman from Northern Ireland has opened up about taking up a nursing degree while working as a cleaner at a hospital. Rachel McIlwaine from Dundonald has taken the plunge back into education after 18 years to follow her dreams of becoming a nurse.
The 36-year-old currently works as a cleaner at the Ulster Hospital, and jumped at the chance to start a pre-registration nursing programme through The Open University.
The course is open to all staff employed in five of Northern Ireland’s health trusts to address the regional shortage of nurses. Each year, there are around 150-175 places for trust employees.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Rachel said the support she’s received from her employer has been great, with the programme giving her a chance to do what she’s always wanted to.
The mum-of-four said: “I’m still employed as a domestic at the Ulster Hospital while I’m out on placement. I went to a nursing open day and didn’t realise you could go through and do healthcare assistant roles while employed, so I thought I would apply to it.
“At the open day, they asked why don’t I just go and apply so I asked my boss and he said of course. They bent over backwards to help me do it, which has been great. I used to be a flight attendant before this, then I met my husband and we had children.
“I always struggled with childcare which just couldn’t work, so I got the domestic job at the hospital. Years ago, I just didn’t think I could ever do nursing. I had low confidence and just thought it wasn’t something I could do, nobody in my family has done a degree, so it’s not necessarily normalised.
“Working in healthcare, everyone was telling me I should do it, so I put myself out there. The wanting to do it was always there, but I always had low confidence. But now I’m older and wiser, I thought why not? I thought if it’s always in the back of my head, I should take the jump.”
As for how the course has been going so far, Rachel said she has loved it. She added: “I started last September, so there’s almost a year over me, it’s four years long. Every week I’m in part-time which means I can still stay at home with the kids, which is a nice balance.
“I’m 18 years out of education too so going back into it at The Open University has been great, they’re so supportive, it hasn’t been that daunting.”
Looking to the future, Rachel said she is keen to get stuck in to nursing, and is glad to have the opportunity to do so. She said: “Whenever this course finishes, because I’m already employed by the Trust, you can speak to HR and look at what role you’re wanting and if the job is there, you can move into it.
“I am interested in wounds and want to do something with plastics – but I want to try everything. With this course, I’m definitely getting that opportunity.”
For anyone working in a health trust interested in following the nursing pathway, she said: “I would tell anyone to take this opportunity and jump with both feet in, what have you got to lose? Talk to your manager, talk to other staff, go to the open days and definitely just do it.”
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