25 years and still enjoying it as much as day one
Diane Wallace has been a nurse for 41 years, 25 of those have been at the Friarage Hospital.
And, all these years later if you asked Diane if she still enjoys working in the Northallerton hospital you would get a huge ‘yes’.
In 1997 Diane and her family moved to England from Scotland for six months due to her husband’s work.
Three months into her visit one of her sons attended the Friarage for an operation to put some grommets in his ears.
Upon arrival, the paediatric nurses went to explain the procedure to Diane and show her what the gromets looked like before finding out that she was a paediatric nurse.
“She (the nurse) asked if I wanted a job, I told her I’d love a job but I didn’t have the confidence because I’d been out of paediatrics for some time as I’d been working with older patients for three to four years,” said Diane.
“She told me to come back and that I could do return to practice course, and that they’d support me.
“Back then when I first trained, you were terrified of the ward sister but when she came down, I couldn’t believe it, she was lovely, she said she’d love to have me and that I should apply for the course.
I did and they stuck to their word and supported me through it and here I am, still here 25 years later and I still love it.”
When asked what makes the Friarage she said it was down to the ‘friendly atmosphere’.
“The people and patients in Northallerton are lovely, you know everyone by name whether it’s other nurses or the domestics.
“It’s a small hospital but you still do the exact same as you’d do in a bigger hospital and in the community.”
“And we’ve got the cancer unit, the dialysis unit, the theatres development… there’s lots going on here, it’s fantastic.”
Life outside of work
As well as working in a growing hospital, Friarage staff can enjoy the picturesque North Yorkshire market town of Northallerton and surrounding areas.
Diane said: “The area is fantastic to live in as well. There’s lots of things for the kids to do. I’ve got two boys and there were lots of things locally for us to do with them.
“There’s plenty clubs and activities such as football and scouts.
“For adults, Northallerton is quite a large town centre. There’s a market twice a week and there’s lots of bars, there’s quite a bit of life.”
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