Home – Careers – Supporting you – Staff stories – Michelle Smart

Michelle Smart

Michelle Smart is a newly qualified nurse on the Friarage Hospital's Ainderby Ward.

Michelle Smart

Michelle gains dream job following Friarage placement

Michelle Smart started her training at the Friarage Hospital in 2021 when she was sent to do a placement on Ainderby Ward before she moved to do another placement in the hospital’s clinical decisions unit (CDU).

On joining the team as a second-year student nurse, Michelle very quickly felt at home and set her sights on becoming a permanent Friarage nurse once qualified.

During her placements Michelle, from Eston in Redcar and Cleveland, very quickly made an impact within the departments she was in with both the staff she was working alongside and her patients.

And, when she saw a nurse role advertised for the hospital’s Ainderby Ward she didn’t hesitate in applying and her goal of joining the team was achieved when she was offered the position just before completing her studies.

“The staff are amazing, they’re so supportive,” she said. “Even if you ask them 100 questions a day you never feel like you’re nagging them as they’re always willing to help and offer you that support.

“I’m really looking forward to continuing this learning experience and being part of the team as one of the ‘Ainderby angels’.

“I love working at the Friarage, everyone is so polite, you get a warm feeling here. I have dyslexia and my confidence isn’t that high, but I know that everyone is there to support and pick me up.

If I’m half of the staff nurse that my colleagues are then I’ve won because they really are amazing.”

Start your nursing career at the Friarage

If you, like Michelle, are training or are newly qualified, there are a wealth of opportunities available at the Friarage Hospital for you.

We are committed to delivering as many services as possible from the Friarage with recent developments including the opening of our:

  •  £5million diagnostic hub
  •  MRI Scanner
  •  Dialysis unit
  • Eye unit
  • Rapid diagnostic centre
  • The Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre

There is also a cutting-edge academic centre on site at the Friarage for undergraduate and postgraduate medical students as well as staff.

It features virtual reality headset training, an immersive simulation teaching space, a library, three teaching rooms, a computer room, common room and offices.

There are also plans for a new £35.5m operating theatre block to come to the Friarage.

There has never been a more exciting time to join our growing team

View our current job vacancies