A well-known Goole nurse is hanging up her uniform and saying a sad farewell to her colleagues and patients after 46 years of caring for local people.
Pat Duggan has spent her career working in Goole caring for thousands of local people but has decided now is the time to call it a day on her 66th birthday.
She began her career back in 1979 studying as an enrolled nurse with Scunthorpe and Goole School of Nursing working at the old St John’s and Bartholomew Hospital.
Talking about why she went into nursing, Pat said: “Right from being a little girl I knew it was what I wanted to do. My great grandma was a tiny tot of a lady and from the age of about nine, I used to help take care of her.
“It was just simple things like making her a sandwich, popping her hair in curlers, making her bed, helping her to get a bath, but from this I just knew I wanted to do nursing and as I wanted to look after people.”
She fondly recalls her two years of training, working under her formidable tutor who was stickler for standards. She said: “He was very strict and disciplined. Our hair, uniform, and how we presented ourselves were all really important and he would come to the ward to test us on anatomy and physiology. He also made sure we knew every single patient, their diagnosis, what their treatment plan was, and how they had to be nursed.
“If we knew he was coming we would try to ensure we were busy bed bathing a patient or something. Joking aside, he instilled in me the basics of good, solid, compassionate nursing care which has been the foundation of my whole career.”
After qualifying, Pat spent time working on the medical and surgical wards, at the old hospital and after having her two children – Lee and Lisa – she left the NHS to work as a manager of a residential home for 12 years and then in a nursing home, before returning to the hospital nearly 23 years ago to work in the outpatient’s department. She underwent her conversion course to become a staff nurse at York University in 2004.
Pat said: “I have loved my time at the hospital and have enjoyed every minute of my nursing career. I am going to miss all the staff not only in outpatients but the whole of the hospital as we all know each other. I am also going to miss the patients; they have been such a big part of my life it will be strange not coming into work. I always say as a nurse your patients do not always remember you, but they will always remember how you touched their lives.
“Now is the time for my husband Steve and I to make the most of life, to enjoy the time with our children, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and our grandchildren, and to enjoy going on more holidays. I have Sorrento firmly in my sights.”
She added: “My daughter has followed in my footsteps and works as a healthcare assistant at Scunthorpe hospital, so even though I may have stepped down from nursing, she will continue in my footsteps caring for people.”
Sister Tracy Hambley, who managed Pat, said: “Pat will be sorely missed as a reliable, dedicated member of the Outpatient Team. She has supported everyone, staff, and patients, with her kindness, knowledge and high standards of nursing care and words of wisdom, care and compassion. The team will miss her stories, but she has served her time, and we wish her a Happy 66th birthday and a long, happy, healthy retirement.”