Hayley Thrumble
"I had no hesitation applying to complete the next stage of my career development with Surrey."
Entry year
2021Choosing 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. But first, I will be back to complete the MSc component of the course in 2023 – see you then Surrey!
