A recent clear-out led our nurse, Toni Fedayi (pictured), to find all the name badges which tell the story of her time at our Trust – right from her first job in our Audiology department in 2008. Now, 13 years later she’s into her second year as a qualified nurse, having spent the first year caring for patients during a pandemic.

She said: “Although I’d been to university and did a psychology degree, I got married and had my son not long after so I didn’t go down the career route. My life was about my children for the next ten years.

“I was working part-time in a betting shop when then I saw the job for an assistant technical officer in our Audiology department. I retuned hearing aids for patients and loved it. It was my first insight into patient care and was so rewarding. Lots of my patients were elderly and to see them leave being able to hear more clearly was great.”

Toni, who lives in Collier Row with husband Tuncer, and children Aydan, 15, Josh, 11 and nine-year-old Keziah, only stayed for six-months after falling pregnant with Josh. However, her experience left her desperate to find another role in healthcare.

In 2014, she returned to our Trust as a healthcare assistant in our Dermatology team.

She added: “I really enjoyed it and my colleagues said I should do nursing training. It didn’t seem possible; I was too old and couldn’t go back to university when I had three kids.

“Then one of the nurses told me about a programme for healthcare assistants where I could be sponsored to get help funding university. I applied and was really lucky – out of 50-60 applications only a handful got in. Without that support from our Trust, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Toni started her nurse training in 2016, spending six weeks at a time in the classroom, followed by six week placements in the workplace, the majority of which were within our Trust.

She qualified in 2019 and has been with our Trust ever since, caring for neurosurgery patients on Sahara B ward.

She said: “I always wanted to stay at our Trust to give back and I love the team on Sahara B. Everyone is so supportive and approachable.

“I’m so proud of what I’ve achieved. It brought home how far I’ve come seeing all my name badges (pictured below). I never thought I would end up here when I started my job in Audiology. When I go into work I forget everything and focus on my patients. I love contact with people and helping them to feel better. Sometimes, little things can make a real difference. I remember one patient who’d had a brain tumour removed and had weeks of radiotherapy in front of him. He was quite young and overwhelmed. He mentioned he loved chocolate so I went and got him a Twirl – and he got all emotional.”

Even the challenge of a pandemic during her first year of nursing has done nothing to dampen Toni’s passion for the job. She even volunteered to support our Intensive Care team.

“It was a real eye-opener, you see a lot on the wards but it’s not the same. It was really hard and the nurses there do such a great job, they were under unbelievable pressure.

“No matter how tired I am, I never get up for work and think ‘ugh’, I’m always up to the challenge. Even when things were really tough during the pandemic, this didn’t change.”