A ward sister based at the Ulster Hospital has endorsed the message that you are never too old to chase your dreams after she became a nurse at 40. Angela Berry, has been working as a nurse for the past 12 years, and is currently based at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald. Angela had wanted to be a nurse since she was 16, but ‘life got in the way’, and she was unable to do so.
Now a Macmillan Cancer Unit Ward Sister, Angela reflected on how she got started in her dream field after returning home to Northern Ireland having worked in banks in Devon. She applied to the Open university, where she undertook a course for her dream job, while also working as a Nursing Assistant. Angela said: “When I moved back to Northern Ireland, I looked at jobs in the banking industry, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue in this line of work, it just wasn’t doing it for me anymore, so I attended a jobs fair to see how I could become a Nurse, which I had always wanted to do. “I was about to apply for Queen’s University when the opportunity came up to begin my Nurse training with the Open University.”
As a mother of two, Angela said it was a juggling act at times, raising her children while working and studying, but she had she had an excellent support network around her. During her final year of training, Angela’s daughter was doing her GCSEs, and with two students studying for exams in their home, Angela recalled it as being ‘quite the event’. She said: “It was about balancing family life with studying and working to earn a living, it was difficult, but I had amazing support. You are never too old.”
