Bradford nurse looks back at 52 years in the profession

At the age of 73 and marking his 52nd year in nursing, Steve Brotherhood, from Cygnet Hospital Bierley, has no intention of slowing down.

Born in Yorkshire and raised in Nottinghamshire, Steve started his career at the age of 21 in 1969 as Student Nurse at Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

He still works as Clinical Team Leader at Cygnet Hospital Bierley, a low secure and psychiatric intensive care service in Bradford, having joined Cygnet Health Care in 2009. The average retirement age in the UK is 66, but Steve is not planning his retirement anytime soon.

He said: “I just enjoy what I’m doing and that is what keeps me going. It is the best thing in the world to see a service user’s recovery journey and help ill people get better. Nothing more than that, I just enjoy helping people.”

“I’m going to continue working as much as I can really. The day that I don’t get up in the morning will be my retirement day. Every morning when I get up, I feel motivated and excited to go to work.”

Having worked at various professional healthcare settings, from care homes to mental health services, Steve is qualified as a Mental Health Nurse and Learning Disability Nurse.

Describing how nursing has transformed over the years, he said: “I came into nursing to help people and now there’s more paperwork than when I first started. But for me the job is about spending time with service user’s, helping them to get better. That’s what I prefer to do.”

Looking back the pandemic, he said: “The last 16 months have been extremely challenging for service users as well as staff and the beginning of the pandemic was especially tough. However, we did everything we could do to keep our service users and each other safe, and I have worked all the way through the pandemic.”

Jo-Ann McAuliffe, Cygnet’s Regional Nurse Director for the North of England said: “In a year when the nursing profession has been so highly regarded throughout the pandemic, Cygnet Health Care is proud to have such a committed and dedicated nurse like Steve. There is a lot to be proud of in terms of what nurses achieve day in, day out to support our service users on their recovery journey. It takes dedication, resilience and compassion to be a nurse which Steve and our nurses show in abundance.”

There is currently a national shortage of nurses, particularly in mental health, and Steve is keen to encourage potential new recruits. “I would say it’s a great career. It’s hard work but at the same time, it’s very rewarding. I would recommend to anyone who wants a career with job satisfaction.”

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