Shannon started to work in care, aged 17 – have a read of her story.

I was 17 when I first started working at Hawksyard, not having a clue where I wanted to work. By chance, my friend worked there and said I should go for a job, and I am so glad I did. I first started working with complex needs and end of life care and gained so many skills and knowledge through work and training. I had completed the Care Certificate and felt I wanted to learn more. I then went and worked with residents who were living with advanced dementia and found a passion for caring for those who lack capacity. After about a year of working on the dementia unit I was asked to go for an interview for the senior position, and I was successful.

In order to be a senior carer, you need to be working towards a level 3 Diploma and this was quickly put into place. When starting the Diploma 3 I had a small amount of confidence however this grew throughout my qualification. I was able to do a large amount of research for my assignments and reflect on my work to develop my knowledge. I was also able to select some of my own topics and complete assignments on the things I am interested in and wanted to develop my skills.

Now I have completed this qualification I feel I have come such a long way with my confidence within the care sector. While doing the qualification I decided to go back to college and do evening classes to get my GCSE in Maths. With my qualification and GCSE, I was able to apply to university for a nursing degree. I am now nearly finished with my first year as a student nurse and would not be this far without my qualification. I have been able to transfer and build knowledge surrounding so many topics in university from my Diploma as well as my writing skills.

I have also achieved a Distinction on my End Point Assessment and can’t believe how much I now know about the care sector and my job role as a Senior Carer at Hawksyard. Compared to when I came into the care sector 6 years ago.

I have enjoyed every second of my Diploma and enjoyed learning about topics I had little to no knowledge in. I am now 23 and continue to work at Hawksyard on bank while completing my Nursing degree, and I truly would not be where I am today without Hawksyard and the qualification I have been able to complete. I will continue to progress through my nursing carer and encourage others to do so.

 

Tutor Comments

I first met Shannon 2 and half years ago and she had just been promoted to a Senior Carer at Hawksyard Priory. She was a very quiet, shy and nervous/anxious young lady but it also became apparent very quickly that she was passionate about her job and her residents and that she was a very caring young lady who was keen to learn more.

Shannon took to her Level 3 Diploma extremely well and produced some outstanding assignments, she researched every single topic in great depth and this shone through with the extensive assignments she produced. I could also see her putting her new-found knowledge into practice in the workplace and her confidence grow and grow month on month.   Shannon also soon started to realise that she was able to speak up on behalf of her residents to other people at the home, including other Seniors and Nurses and that she was actually usually right, where before when I first met her, she may have had the thoughts but not the confidence to voice her opinions.

Shannon took on more and more responsibilities including supporting the trained Nurses at the home with medication and other medical tasks and found she really enjoyed this element of the job role also.  Shannon started to wonder if nursing could be a career for her, but again her confidence and anxiety placed a doubt in her mind, but all the same she decided to go back to college to get her GCSE in Maths and by attending and achieving this and seeing the end of her Level 3 Diploma coming she decided to take the plunge and apply for Nurse Training and amazed herself by being accepted straight away. This was no surprise to myself as her tutor as I knew she would make an excellent nurse and was an excellent student.

Shannon has since gone on to complete her Level 3 End Point Assessment and she achieved a Distinction which does not surprise me either. Shannon is very good at putting herself down and was convinced she had failed her Situational Judgement test and then her Professional Discussion but obviously she didn’t fail either.  Shannon will go onto achieve her Nursing Degree and become a Registered Nurse and I know she will become an outstanding Nurse.