Hayley Thrumble
"I had no hesitation applying to complete the next stage of my career development with Surrey."
Choosing community nursing
It was always my childhood dream to become a nurse. I enrolled onto the Nursing Studies (Adult Nursing) BSc at Surrey in 2015 and enjoyed every minute of my course. I knew I’d made the right decision and that this was the career I was meant to be in. In my third year, I was lucky enough to spend my final placement with a local community nursing team. I immediately fell in love with community nursing and knew that was where my passion was.
After graduation, I secured my first job as a community staff nurse and stayed in that role for three wonderful years, soaking up every piece of information and experience I could.
After progressing in my role from newly qualified to a senior community nurse, I started to crave further learning and new experiences. I decided to study for the Specialist Practice Qualification in District Nursing. I was very excited about this as I had always wanted to specialise in a particular area, but I'd never dreamed I'd be able to do that at such an early stage in my career.
I had no hesitation applying to complete the next stage of my career development with Surrey.
"It was always my childhood dream to become a nurse."
Developing my career
I felt a real mixture of emotions before starting my course. I was so excited to be able to learn something new and gain new connections and experiences. Despite some nerves, I remember just feeling so ready to get started and learn as much as I could.
I could speak all day about why I’m passionate about my subject, but in a nutshell, I LOVE district nursing. I think it's the best job in the world and has so many opportunities for learning, personal and professional development, career progression, specialism and networking. I enjoy the level of holistic care we're able to provide our patients within their own homes and how our teams continue to adapt to the ever-changing, complex needs of an ageing population.
Studying at Surrey
Something all the academic staff have in common at Surrey is their knowledge, passion and dedication to teaching. I really like the way that all the lecturers are different in their approach to teaching, there's a range from some delivering lectures in large lecture theatres to others offering smaller group seminars with activity work and hands-on learning.
The library at Surrey is fantastic and the staff are knowledgeable, accessible and extremely supportive. They’re able to offer group and 1:1 support sessions for topics including literature searching, academic writing, academic note taking and so much more.
Looking ahead
Since completing my course I've secured a job as a district nurse within my organisation which I'm extremely proud of and am really enjoying. I've been exposed to a wealth of networking opportunities through the course and have identified passions and interests which I may not have been able to explore without the help of the academic staff at Surrey.
I've also developed a love for education and teaching and hope to explore this in the future.
