Ooh Matron!

Introduction

Ooh Matron!

'Ooh Matron!' is the first book in The Nomadic Nurse Series which serves as a biographical compilation of stories, anecdotes and reflections from a varied nursing career in health care establishments across the UK and in various parts of Australia.

Each book in this series will represent a new chapter or episode in my nursing career, which I hope will not only be entertaining, but may also inspire readers to explore all opportunities, however obscure they may at first appear.

Sarah Jane has no career aspirations, all she wants is to leave school, work as a cashier at Woolworths and get married. Then everything changes and she finds herself wearing a fluorescent pink uniform and studying to get into Nursing School. What inspired this surprising change of direction? What happens when she leaves home to live in a garrison town with a housemate who is a party animal? The big question being, is she really cut out to be a nurse?

Let's start at the beginning with Sarah Jane as a sixteen-year-old country girl, a bit old-fashioned but who has a mischievous sense of humour who suddenly decides she wants to be a nurse!

Beta reader review

"This funny, yet poignant nursing memoir has Sarah Jane's trademark honest writing style which shines through in every story she tells. From starting her student nurse training in Essex to coping with patients in happy, sad and heart-breaking situations. It gives you a young woman's view into the realities of entering the world of nursing in the 1980's. A highly entertaining and informative memoir which was able to take me from laughing out loud to having welled tears of empathy." S. Brewster

Why is it called 'Ooh Matron' and what does that bring to mind for you?

Readers of a certain age will probably remember the naughty seaside postcard style humour of the 'Carry On' films series in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The films starred some of the great comedy actors of all time such as Kenneth Williams, Barbara Windsor, Sid James, Jim Dale, Frankie Howerd and Hattie Jacques, to name but a few. I grew up exposed to these films as my mum was a huge fan. She had a wonderful, infectious, slightly naughty laugh, so this type of humour entertained her. My mum's love and fondness for Hattie Jacques originated from these humble beginnings. She watched all the films that Hattie appeared in many times over, her favourites being 'Carry On Matron' and 'Carry On Doctor'.

There was a physical resemblance between my mum and Hattie Jacques, but in hindsight and with a tinge of sadness I realise now that they were also similar in their personalities and the personal struggles they faced with relationships, weight gain and loss.

One of the proudest moments of my life was the day I told my mum I had passed my final examinations and was at last a qualified nurse, even though she didn't see why I needed a career as I had 'a nice man to take care of me'. Nevertheless, I knew that she was proud of me and if she were alive today and had witnessed the twists and turns of my 28 year nursing career I think she would have become one of those annoying neighbours always going on about their super talented offspring. Everything that I have achieved over the years is due in part to the sacrifices she made both on both a physical and psychological level during my childhood. I hope she knows that those sacrifices were worth it and that as a result I have managed to provide for my children over the years with the security of a valuable nursing qualification behind me.

So let's start at the beginning with my innocent days of becoming and living the student nurse life in Colchester, Essex. Find out how and why a sixteen-year-old country girl, who was a bit old-fashioned, but had a mischievous sense of humour, suddenly decided she wanted to be a nurse!