Laura

Hi everyone! My name's Laura, I'm 26 years old and I live in Portsmouth.

I'm currently studying an Access to Nursing Diploma in order to bulk up my qualifications for University next year. I left education at the age of 17 (halfway through my A Levels) and after a few wrong turns in life I've made the decision to do what I should have done 9 years ago. I won't lie - I'm more nervous about this then I've ever been about anything. The thought of not being accepted for University is keeping me awake at night (and I still have a year to go!)

 

This was been a huge decision for me to make and I wouldn't have done it for any profession other than nursing. In my eyes if I'm going to do something then it needs to be 100% worth while and nothing can be more rewarding than the path that I'm about to follow.

I've decided that I want to study adult nursing for my degree and then go on to study a masters as I want to become a diabetes specialist nurse. This age group and condition is something which I feel I very strongly about as I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 16, so (like Hannah said in her intro) how could I not choose this path. Saying that I want to learn as much as I can and I don't just want to be a DSN I want to be an "everyone nurse!" I know the term I should use is "general" but "everyone" means a lot more to me.

 

I have a little support group (@ninjabetic1) which was set up with my diabetes consultant, I have also started tweeting about my nursing journey (@type1nurse) and like Hannah I'm a Diabetes UK Young Leader.

 

I hope you enjoy reading about our journey as nurses and thanks to everyone who is sharing the experience with us!