Dorothy McKenzie
Nursing Auxiliary
I was working in Asda at Dyce in Aberdeen as a Supervisor and fancied a change. I saw an advertisement for an nursing auxilliary in the paper and applied for it. It was as simple as that!I work in Orthopaedics, at Woodend Hospital. I enjoy meeting different people, seeing patients coming in, having their operation and going home pain-free. That, for me, is the best part of the job; helping people to feel better and not in pain.
The people I work with are fine. I’ve worked with different people over the years but Orthopaedics is a welcoming place with lots of people from all over the world, doctors, nurses etc and a few have moved on and we still keep in touch, which is a good sign. There’s one doctor who moved back to India seven years ago we still keep in touch with and he’s just got married so he sent the photos which was nice.
Orthopaedics is very busy. Theatre operates Monday to Friday, performing a lot of elective orthopaedic operations: there are four theatres at Woodend. One thing I like is that a lot of the new Consultants have been junior doctors who I’ve seen coming through their careers.
The facilities are good, our ward was built only about 13 – 14 years ago, and a new HDU was opened within our ward in November 2008. The nurses are good, we are a great team and work well together. We have a few nights out – bowling down at the Beach, out for drinks and dancing!!
What’s Aberdeen like? There are a lot of things to do here. I’m involved in swimming clubs with my grandchildren and there’s a lot of organised sport. The shops are good, you can get everything you want and need.
What are people like? Most are quite friendly, everyone will speak to you. Management is pretty good – our Nursing Service Manager Noelle was my Ward Manager when I first started, and we have a new manager, Darren, who started last year and he’s approachable and easy to get on with. I’m the Health and Safety Rep and have regular meetings with all the managers of the orthopaedic wards. There are opportunities to develop and gain further insight into specific areas of interest.
Is Aberdeen too far away? It’s not difficult to get to the central belt and we go to Glasgow sometimes for the weekend. We go to Inverurie shopping at times (I stay in Bucksburn – to the east of the city).
If you’re not sure about coming here I’d recommend you give it a go. You’ll meet new people, you’ll enjoy the job, it’s rewarding, and good fun. It can be very busy, but I enjoy going to work. For example, the other week I was on holiday but did three back shifts to help out because we were busy. That’s the kind of place it is – we all help each other and get on really well together as part of a big team.
