I commenced my Registered Nurse Training with South Lothian College of Nursing and Midwifery on the 3rd of March 1979. Most of my placements and college sessions were at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Little did I know that I would nurse there until 2006, when I then went on to work in Healthcare Education. My final role within the hospital was as a Charge Nurse in a surgical ward. I have so many vivid memories from those days. The chemical smells as you walked around the corridors and departments; EUSOL, Hydrogen Peroxide and Milton would linger in the pores of the walls. When I got home my husband would tell me he could smell it in my hair, I can still remember that smell now.

The hospital was busy and noisy during the day with all sorts of comings and goings but at night, walking in the corridors and basement throughways was deadly quiet. Often you would meet no one, although there were many scuttling cockroaches in the basement. I remember once going for my break in the middle of the night, when I was a student nurse, to literally bump into Father Senes, the hospital priest, as he was on his way to a ward to administer the last rites. I’m not sure who got the biggest fright, him or me! He was a lovely man, kind, compassionate and funny. He could be seen at all hours in the corridors and wards, with his white moped helmet under his arm. The wards were busy and hard work; however, all patients were routinely put back into bed between 2-3 pm. There would definitely be no visiting at that time, Sister demanded it, the Charge Nurses were mostly women then and got called Sister, absolutely no first names! In the orthopaedic wards there were often young men on traction smoking in their beds, changed days indeed.

In July 1979 the Queen visited the Royal Infirmary to commemorate 250 years of the “RIE” and I was proud to be one of the guard of honour for the Queen as she left the building. I had my big cosy red cape on, which crossed over my chest, I loved that cape, but someone stole it when it was hanging up in a changing room. I remember thinking how small The Queen was and what a pretty hat she had on. I enjoyed most of my time at the RIE, although it was often exhausting, I saw the best of people and sadly the worst of people too, throughout my career, but I wouldn’t have changed it. I made many lifelong friends and hope that the patients I cared for and the staff that I worked with thought I did a good job.