Mary Batch
I decided to become a nurse 50 years ago. I wanted to help people and nursing seemed to be such a sophisticated and exciting way to do this.
I soon had that bubble burst when I experienced the hospital reality as a student nurse - far from glamour and exciting!
I made lifelong friends in my hospital training days but swore never to work again as a nurse after a couple of years as a RN following graduation.
Then my children came along and as they grew and I grew, I learned what it really meant to care for others.
After some time I was “hungry” to return to nursing and did a re-entry course with a passion that has lasted 23 years ‘til the present.
I have climbed as high as I can in academic nursing - having achieved a PhD in 2012.
However, my first love is the bedside and I work very hard as a Clinical Nurse to integrate, indeed underpin my academic knowledge with clinical practice.
I feel I make a difference by taking time to listen to patients. I particularly love caring for those who are lonely and who seem to be the “underdog”.
I enjoy supporting other nurses by sharing my knowledge of good evidence and the importance of research to produce nursing evidence as best practice.
I really love and feel enormously privileged to be helping, educating, advising, caring for and supporting others at their most vulnerable time during their hospital stay.
I hope to be able to do this and do this well for many years to come.
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