My Nursing Journey: Al, Ward 7, QHB
Al Velasco is a Staff Nurse on Ward 7 at Queen’s Hospital Burton. He originally started his Nurse Training in the Philippines and moved over to the UK in July 2019 to continue his nursing role in the NHS.
“I came over to the UK with a group of other Filipino Nurses, some of us live together and we’re really trying to embrace British culture. At Christmas, we went to a Christmas Market in Edinburgh and it was so magical.
“It’s amazing to be here, but it can sometimes be quite tough – especially with the language barrier and the change in culture – it’s very different to the Philippines.”
After completing his nurse training in the Philippines, Al didn’t go straight in to Nursing and instead took a different route by trying out a few other careers; customer service, research, insurance and financial technology, just to name a few! It was only after 6 years of these careers he decided to go into Nursing.
“My nursing journey is a process of reflection as it took me to go through all these careers before I found my way back to Nursing.
“I was influenced by my parents to become a Nurse and care for people. My mother has been a Midwife for over 30 years. When I started my training at college, that is when I really started to appreciate what Nursing is all about and the importance of the profession.
“Building up a relationship with your patients is so important – it really helps show care and compassion.
“My most rewarding moment working on Ward 7 was assisting an older patient to walk again after a nasty fall. The patient was scared to move in case they fell again, however with the power of self-encouragement and self-belief, my colleagues and I helped them to walk again.”
We asked Al what he would say to someone thinking about starting their Nurse training, he said; “Nursing will be tough, there will be times that you will cry, you will worry a lot, you will be frightened, but do you know what, that is ok! All of those feelings are part of you as a person, it will connect you more to yourself and the job that you are doing - eventually you will use all of those experiences to become the best Nurse you can possibly be.