Practice Nurse Hazel Newman of Aspen Medical Practice is retiring after 48 years of nursing.

Hazel trained at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital (GRH) during the era of celebrated head nurse Fannie Storr who became the first Director of Nursing Education in Gloucestershire.

She has enjoyed a long and rewarding career full of variety.

“It’s almost as though I have had several different careers,” she said.

“Although much of my work has been with older people, as a practice nurse I have experienced the whole spectrum.

The range has been really wide, including school immunisations, wound care and then more challenging issues that sometimes affect young people like self-harm and substance misuse.

If you are having problems in your own life, you put on your uniform and become a different person, forgetting about your own issues as you focus on other people.”

But Hazel’s pathway to nursing wasn’t straightforward initially because her parents weren’t convinced about her career choice.

“I had always wanted to do nursing but my parents didn’t want me to, they had different ideas,” said Hazel.

“When I left school I took a job as a clerical worker at Rikenel and did an Ordinary National Certificate (ONC) in public admin. I applied for nursing, but I kept it a secret.”

Qualifying at the age of 22, Hazel’s first role was as a staff nurse on Ward 14 which was a medical ward at GRH.

The nursing culture was very different in those days according to Hazel who says young nurses were discouraged from forming friendships with colleagues in case this presented a distraction from their work.

“When I first qualified no one even called you by your first name and there was a hierarchy,” said Hazel.

“The highlight of qualifying was getting your starched apron, your cap and your buckle.”

While working at GRH, Hazel also trained as a midwife. Getting married as a student nurse, she worked on the bank to fit in with bringing up her two children.

She then moved into a different sector and after 10 years of managing Magdalen House Care Home in Gloucester, she returned to the NHS where she aimed to refresh some of her nursing skills. Following this she spent four years working as a district nurse.

“There is such a variety with all the places you go to,” said Hazel.

“I found doing end of life care very fulfilling, you’re very involved with people’s lives and you get a chance to really make a difference.”

Hazel was able to draw on her nursing expertise to look after her own parents who both lived with a dementia.

Now she is ready for new adventures in retirement, although the change of pace will be bitter-sweet.

“I will really miss being part of a team,” she said.

“It’s a job that involves a lot of contact with people and I’ve met some fantastic colleagues, some of whom I’ve looked up to and thought I would like to be like them.

If I can help other staff and pass on expertise then I will.

I always tell people the first thing you have to do is establish a rapport with someone, it’s about finding a connection.”