I’m going to be a nurse! – Damien's story

With great success creating Pioneer’s first ‘home grown’ nurse and introducing newly qualified nurses into to a specialist clinical setting, Pioneer are pleased to continue to support our team to progress their careers and develop the nursing profession.

Damien shares “My journey with Pioneer started 3 years ago as a healthcare support worker with no prior work experience in a clinical setting”.

I have spent most of my working life in retail and hospitality management until I took a second job as a community carer and realised, I was in the wrong career yet a lot of my experience and knowledge was transferable. I proceeded to complete the care certificate, start a diploma in adult social care, join Pioneer and never looked back.

During my time at Pioneer, I have become experienced in my role, providing care for our patients within clinic and the local community, developing a love and a passion for wound care and lymphoedema. I was pleased when Pioneer introduced extended skills to health care support workers supporting me to complete clinical competencies such as curette debridement and negative pressure wound therapy, going on to study towards a registered Nurse feels like the natural next step to learn and develop further.

During the course application process I was quite anxious, the process is straight forward but at each stage you have to wait to see if you have been successful to progress to the next steps. When it came to my interview, I think I was the most nervous I had ever been! At this point i realised just how much I really wanted this opportunity. The interview was based around the Nursing and Midwifery Code which I had been revising beforehand and recognised that my role as a healthcare support worker is closely aligned around these expectations and I could talk about my experiences and practice within healthcare.

I am excited to learn from different clinical practices while on my placements and develop a better understanding of how health services operate, especially the Vascular speciality as this is closely linked with what we do at Pioneer. I am most looking forward to expanding my knowledge and gaining the skills to fulfil my potential.

I want to say thank you to everyone at Pioneer for this amazing opportunity, it feels amazing to be Pioneer’s second Student Nurse with the Open University and I can’t wait to get started.”

Laura Russell, Ambulatory Lead – “Damien’s journey shows that it’s never too late to discover your true calling. Through dedication and a passion for learning, he’s grown into a skilled Health Care Support Worker, delivering compassionate care and making a real difference for patients. His decision to pursue nursing is a powerful reminder that changing paths can lead to meaningful growth. We’re proud at Pioneer to support Damien as he takes the next step in his career — and we hope his story inspires others to consider nursing as a rewarding and life-changing profession.”