End of a fairly strange era.

Last day clerking in vaccine patients at the stadium today.

Looking back it’s been pretty amazing. I started there for something to do, and to do my bit after I’d quit dental nursing. My confidence was on the floor, and I was a bit lost. And I had no idea what I was going to do next. Within three days I’d been approached to go and train as a nursing associate.

I’ve met some absolutely fantastic people, staff and patients alike. I’ve heard wonderful tales and some real sad stories. I’ve laughed till my stomach ached and cried too.

It’s been really tough, our visors were freezing over in February, we had no heat and wore our coats, hats and scarves and shoved hot water bottles down our scrub pants. I even had goosebumps at one point today, and that’s in July! No windows, no idea what’s going on outside. The work isn’t hard, but some days we were seeing 950 patients a day. One patient every five minutes. It was pretty full on. Some very anxious patients, some patients that just wanted to chat, and a lot of patients that cried with gratitude.

We’ve been a team, we’ve all been kind, and we’ve done a really good job. I’ve had a blast, and have seen people at their absolute best.

And I start my Nurse Associate job on Monday.

What’s meant to be, is meant to be. I’ll never forget the last five months.