Son’s hospital stay sparks career change for Charlotte

The Burntisland mum says she has found her calling as she prepares to graduate with a BSc in Adult Nursing from the University of Dundee tomorrow (Friday).

And the 30-year-old has also been named as the university’s nursing and health sciences student nurse of the year after turning her back on six years working in a law firm.

After watching son Oscar be treated by staff at Edinburgh’s Sick Kids Hospital, Charlotte said the decision to swap the solicitors office for doctor’s surgery was an easy one.

She said: “Oscar required treatment for his kidneys when he was young. We spent a lot of time in hospital with him and it was heart-breaking to deal with. We felt so helpless, but the staff were incredible and made a difficult time a lot easier.

“It made me realise that I wanted to give something back. It inspired me to go to university and help others in the same way.

“It was a big step to take. I had two children and I had bills to pay but I knew this was something I wanted to do. I’ve received tremendous support from my husband and my family. I couldn’t have done this without them.”

Charlotte spent three years at the university’s Kirkcaldy campus, participating in the General Practice Nursing pilot programme, and has since taken up a position at a surgery near Crossgates.

Her dedication and enthusiasm caught the eyes of her lecturers, who nominated her to receive the Student Nurse of the Year accolade, a prize she said came as a “complete surprise”.

She added: “It was hard having to study at weekends when my husband was entertaining the kids, but I kept telling myself that everything I was doing was to make their lives better.

“Oscar is now seven and my daughter Holly is 12 and I wanted them to see that you achieve things through hard work.”

“Now, every night when I travel home from work I can say to myself that I have helped to make somebody’s life better. That is such an amazing feeling and has made all of that effort worthwhile.”