A first-year nursing student from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has recently taken the plunge from working as holiday rep to follow her heart into nursing after realising she has always destined to be a nurse.
Hollie Hawkes, joined DMU last year on the Adult Nursing course after spending three years in Majorca as a holiday rep, knowing deep down “she needed to be a nurse.”
The 29-year-old has been working in the care system on and off since she left school, spending many hours on medical wards helping the elderly, until she had the opportunity to try something completely different.
It was during that time abroad her overwhelming feeling to help people confirmed where she needed to be and Hollie started her journey to become a nurse by applying to DMU.
Hollie said: “The moment I put the nurses uniform on for my first placement with DMU I knew this was right for me, I need to be a nurse, that is who I am.
“It’s in my blood, my twin sister is a nurse and so is my mum. No matter what I do I am always pulled back to nursing, its where I am meant to be.”
Even during her time abroad, Hollie never quite let go of the care system and would help out on the hospital wards between holiday seasons.
She said: “Sometimes you just have to explore other opportunities but if it’s meant to be it will always find a way.
“I applied to be a holiday rep to try something new, I did like it, I did it for three years but I always came back to the wards between seasons to help out and knew its where I was meant to be deep down.”
Hollie has just finished her first year at DMU including a placement at Leicester General Hospital on the dialysis ward.
She said: “After making my decision to follow my heart into nursing, I chose DMU because its one of the best universities in the country for nursing. I am from Leicester and was willing to travel, but to have such a great course on my door step, again felt meant to be.
“First year has been a little difficult due to a lot of online learning but the support from tutors and other students is great, we all have each other and look out for each other.
“We have still been able to go on placements which is the main thing. I worked on the dialysis ward, I loved it. You are not supposed to say this on your first placement but I could definitely see myself working on a renal unit in the future.
“The team work across the NHS is unreal, no matter the situation and I am proud to be part of that team.”
As Hollie heads towards starting her second year in September, she can’t even stay away from the wards for the summer.
“I will spend the next month or so between first and second year of my course working as a bank nurse.
“I am so used to working and I want to help people. You have a rota and they tell you which wards are short staffed and need extra support and you book your shift. DMU have great links with UHL too which has been really helpful.
“By continuing to do this I feel like I am helping people as well as learning more. It helps me get ahead and prepare, I can sign up on shift that might be relevant to my next placement and get some understanding before I go."
She added: “I have had a journey to get to where I am today but I am 100% sure nursing is where I am meant to be and I cannot wait to learn more.”
Posted on Monday 5 July 2021