Colleagues from First Community have been out and about in recent weeks attending career events aimed at encouraging young people to consider a future career in healthcare.
Dawn Huish, Apprenticeship and Widening Participation lead and Alison Maitland, Practice Development Nurse were joined by Nandi Botha, Clinical Team Lead for Paediatric Occupational Therapy at the ‘Meet the Practitioner’ careers event at East Surrey Hospital in November.
They met with school students in year 9 and above who were accompanied by their parents and guardians. Students were able to meet a broad range of healthcare professionals to find out what their roles entailed and discuss how they might begin a career in healthcare.
Talks were held throughout the evening and Alison delivered a presentation alongside colleagues from Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, illustrating nursing in both acute and community settings.
Additionally, in October, Dawn and First Community’s Apprentice Nurses Tammy Legge and Alex Earl, delivered a talk on inclusive careers in healthcare at Moon Hall School in Reigate, which is a specialist dyslexia school.
Tammy shared her lived experiences to the group as someone with dyslexia and is now completing a second, degree level apprenticeship to qualify as a registered nurse.
Tammy shared her feedback and said, “If I can do it, anyone can! Students shouldn’t let dyslexia be a barrier to employment and learning in the NHS as there is lots of help available to support their studies and career aspirations. “
First Community is a great place to work; everyone has a voice and is supported to develop their career to its full potential in an aim to provide First-Rate care.
As a nurse, therapist or in a supporting role First Community will invest in you and your career and will provide you with opportunities to learn new skills as well as shape and improve its services.
For more information on working at First Community and to view current vacancies please visit the website: https://www.firstcommunityhealthcare.co.uk/work-us. You can also find out about the range of rewards and benefits on offer and hear from colleagues who share their experiences of working at First Community.