International Nurses Day

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Happy International Nurses Day! Today, we come together to celebrate and thank the incredible nurses working across Primary Care in Derby and Derbyshire. Your compassion, resilience, and unwavering commitment to patient care are at the very heart of our communities.

Whether you're supporting patients through complex care needs, offering a reassuring word, or keeping everything running behind the scenes, your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.

This is a moment to recognise the difference you make every single day—thank you for all that you do.

Join us in celebrating today and saying thank you to all the fantastic nurses that work tirelessly to deliver high quality patient care.

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As we celebrate International Nurses Day, we sat down with the amazing Hub Plus nursing team to find out about their primary care journeys, what they love about being a nurse and the difficulties that come with it.

Charlotte Darby’s Nursing Journey

"I have grown up with the support of nurses and cardiac consultants form Glenfield Hospital caring for me and giving me the best chance in life. I also witnessed my brother have exceptional care in the ICU in London during his last few weeks of life, all these experiences encouraged me to want to give something back and to also replicate the work that had been done to me to others.

I started my NHS career 10 years ago in 2015 as a student nurse also working many bank shifts across UHDB trying to find what area of nursing I enjoyed the most, turns out I couldn’t settle on one specific area until I had my first community placement and was able to not only work alongside the community and district teams but I was lucky enough to work alongside a practice nurse for a number of shifts. I knew as soon as I had spent one day with that nurse that I wanted to work in primary care.

Upon qualifying it was drilled into us at the time that we must take an acute position first before any community position, so I spent two years navigating around medical wards and outpatients building up my knowledge of different medical conditions and treatments until covid-19 hit, I supported the covid wards for a number of months and then was very lucky to secure a primary care position  in the middle of flu season. I owe a lot to the first practice I worked at, I built up a lot of resilience and confidence and was supported in a lot of training to enable me to fulfil my practice nurse role to the full extent. One of my favourite parts of being a nurse is developing the next generation, inspiring student nurses and helping them in education and clinical skills is wonderful and I was lucky to look after so many students and see them progress, many into practice nurse roles now.

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I was then hit with another curveball of my heart wanting to give up on me, but with the support of my colleagues, practice, and family I underwent open heart surgery and had a few months off in recovery. During this time, I was nominated anonymously for a NHSE fellowship for the midlands as the GPN clinical fellow and was amazed to be given the position of a 12-month fellowship. It came a good time recovery wise as not only was a recovering from Open heart surgery, but I think I was ready for a bit of a step back form the constant demand, I felt a bit burnt out. The fellowship opened a lot of doors for me in terms of leadership education and strategic work, it ignited a different side of my brain which was a more educational and leadership side, one I wasn’t used to.

All of these experiences have shaped how I am today and how I Nurse, I do still love being a nurse and am lucky to still be clinical and see patients, but I also get to create and support educational materials and support the whole of the nursing profession from HCSW to Enhanced nurses."

Georgia Hunt’s Nursing Journey

"From the moment I stepped into nursing as a student, I knew I was entering a profession unlike any other - one built on compassion, resilience, and purpose. Qualifying as a nurse in the middle of a global pandemic brought challenges I could never have predicted, but it also solidified my belief that nursing is where I’m meant to be. Stepping straight into General Practice as a newly-qualified nurse was a leap into the unknown, but it’s where I’ve built a career I’m deeply proud of.

Over the past 4 years, I’ve developed a wide range of skills varying from cervical cytology to childhood immunisations to chronic disease management. Of all the skills I’ve developed, caring for our community of patients with asthma is by far my favourite. Helping patients, especially young ones, understand and manage their condition has become a passion. There’s something truly special about continuity of care in General Practice. Watching babies I vaccinated at 8 weeks old return to me for their pre-school boosters at age 3 - being part of those milestones is something I’ll always treasure.

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Now, in my role as the New to Practice Nurse Ambassador at The Hub Plus, I lead a fellowship supporting GPNs in their first two years. It’s a chance to give back, champion new nurses, and build a community grounded in shared experience.

And yes, there have been challenges. The emotional weight of patients unable to get appointments, the physical toll of packed clinics, and the early signs of burnout that crept in faster than I expected. Those moments were difficult. But they taught me to set boundaries, to lean on my peers, and to grow from those experiences.

Every day I’m inspired by the nursing community - the trailblazers who paved the way before me, and the possibilities ahead that feel endless. Whether it's pursuing my non-medical prescribing qualification, starting a masters degree, or moving into education to teach the next generation of nurses.

This career is not always easy. But it is always worth it. And I wouldn’t change it for the world."