Research nurse Morag Brookes has witnessed several changes over the years she has worked in the NHS - her experience working in healthcare has spread over more than half the NHS’s lifecycle.
Her nursing career started 40 years ago when she completed her RGN nurse training at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
“Treatments back then were not always evidence-based, patients with red pressure areas had an egg white whipped up and painted on the skin as a second skin and dried on with oxygen,” she said.
“Patient care relied not on machinery, but in patient observation and physical assessments.”
Morag went on to complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, with her dissertation on pain assessment in children, before she gained a secondment as an acute adult and paediatric pain sister at The James Cook University Hospital.
She was then given the role of research nurse.
At the time there were only six research nurses in the trust and no supportive research and development department – there are now over 90 research staff.
Her role in pain research over the past 19 years has seen her publish over 20 peer-reviewed articles.
Her expertise in multiple specialties in trusts around the country shines a light on the hard work and dedication NHS staff show patients daily