How long have you worked at Royal Papworth Hospital?

I have been working in the cardiology department at Royal Papworth since the summer of 2013 and couldn't be happier. I had no previous cardiology background but this didn’t make a difference to my application as I received training here.

What made you choose a career in nursing?

Since I was a child, I had a passion of caring for others. I wanted to be a biologist so I could save animals, but then my mother suggested that I should direct my passion towards people, which made me choose a career in nursing.

What would you say to other nurses considering working at Royal Papworth?

In my opinion, Royal Papworth Hospital is one of the best places to work. I had the privilege to work in different countries with different teams and hospital systems and I can proudly say that Royal Papworth Hospital takes patient care to the next level. The multidisciplinary team is outstanding, the teams are so friendly and approachable and we offer personalised support for every single staff member.

How are you feeling about the move to the new hospital?

I believe that it's going to be a great opportunity to develop our skills in a different environment. Our vision for patient care will not change and we will extend the great job we do here to the new hospital. A strong team provides high quality care wherever they are and I'm quite excited for the new challenge ahead.

You’re from Portugal. What do you miss most about being at home?

To be honest, what I miss the most it's my mother's cooking, but luckily I have the best ward manager that understands the importance of family in my life and makes my schedule more flexible so I can go home every single month. This is just an example of how the management team goes the extra mile to make staff happy, valued and to promote staff retention. Also, with time I've started developing true friendships here and now I work with people that I can call family.