On 14 January 1985, ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ by Foreigner was the new UK number one, while Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first outing as The Terminator had just been released in cinemas.
That very day, a cold Monday morning, Deborah Gibbons, Sandra Murray, Sanchia Baines, Jill Dixon, Jennifer Hardman and Joanne Godkin started their Registered General Nurse (RGN) training, with what was then Preston District Health Authority.
Remarkably, all six are still with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in various capacities and are celebrating four fabulous decades of service.
When they began their nursing journey, the training school was based on Watling Street Road at Sharoe Green Hospital, at what had been the workhouse - now Preston Business Centre, which now houses the Trust’s Specialist Mobility Rehabilitation Centre (SMRC).
Sanchia recalled: “Preston Health Authority paid you to do your training for three years, and you came out with your RGN qualification, although some of the girls in our group didn't get jobs, because there weren't the jobs available, and it was a struggle.”
Deborah added: “If you didn’t pass your exams at six weeks you were out - it was stressful.”
Training was rigorous, with first year students expected to keep the facility clean, including flower vases, which were still allowed, emptying ashtrays – with patients allowed to smoke in the day room at the time - and bed pans.
There was an accommodation unit on site for students under the age of 21. Some lived in, and while some of the local nurses lived at home, they have fond memories of the time.
Joanne lived in, as Deborah noted: “I think Joanne lived off crisps and pot noodles, or beans on toast!” Sandra added: “Billy Ocean used to be your favourite didn’t he! I can still hear him – we used to play his tapes on the cassette player.”
Once qualified as nurses, the group went their separate ways into different specialties.
Joanne went to work on ward 22 - a respiratory ward - while Jill went to ENT, and Jennifer to urology. Sanchia went into medicine, Sandra to gynae – where she has worked ever since, and Deborah started on Ward 9 at Royal Preston Hospital in mixed surgical and later went to maternity – where she had to do another 18 months’ training to become a midwife.
All stayed within the Trust – Joanne is a Staff Nurse in acute stroke, Jill a Staff Nurse in ophthalmology, Sanchia a clinical educator for surgery, while Sandra is a Gynae Oncology Specialist nurse, Deborah the Lead Midwife for Safeguarding, and Jennifer a Urology Specialist Nurse.
Given their time again, they wouldn’t change a thing. Sandra smiled: “I have a picture from Preston Guild in 1972 where I was dressed up as a nurse, it was all I ever wanted to do! People say, ‘Would you do it again?’ Absolutely I would.”
Joanne said: “It’s a great job, I think all of us probably see it as a vocation.” Sandra added: “You see a problem, and you want to do something about it.”
The biggest change in 40 years, all six agree, is technology and the demands on nurses – moving from manual record-keeping to electronic systems, the rise in specialisation and advanced roles, requiring ongoing education and, in many cases, degrees or Masters qualifications, and the challenges of balancing clinical work with administrative demands.
Each nurse has left a lasting impact through their work.
Sandra proudly notes: “I was the first Gynae Oncology Specialist in the Trust, and I’ve worked with some fantastic people. Setting up that service has been a highlight.”
Jennifer added: “I set up the prostate cancer support group and have been published several times.”
Sanchia said: “I worked on the newly formed national Quality Circle initiative looking at problems at grass root level. In medicine we won the hospital Quality Circle and went on to represent the hospital at regional and national level, we were only beaten by Ford - they got a new car for winning!”
Sanchia has also been published for a study looking at smoking in pregnancy, and as a blood transfusion practitioner, she and a colleague were asked to present nationally, with initiatives successfully introduced within the Trust.
Deborah said: “I received the NHS Safeguarding Star Award for promoting safer sleep for babies and developed the enhanced support midwifery team. It’s been a massive achievement.”
Joanne and Jill were of the same mind. Joanne said: “My greatest achievement is still being passionate about being a nurse - nothing grand!” Jill added: “I feel the same. Working here for 40 years is something to be proud of. You forget what you’ve achieved, you don’t think about it, you just move on to the next thing!”
