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For one nurse, the hospital’s recent Employee Service Awards was a chance to celebrate and reflect on over a half a century’s service to Good Hope Hospital.

Since she was three years old, Margaret Pinder, now 75, has known she wanted to be a nurse. Although she had several jobs as a young women including working for Reliant, she began to pursue her dream in 1967 when she started nurse training at Tamworth General Hospital.

Her mum was not too pleased with her career choice and tried to dissuade Margaret. When it came to her interview for nurse training, Margaret told her mum she was going to a dental appointment!

Margaret, who lives with her husband of 55 years in Four Oaks, said: “Growing up, my friend’s mum was a nurse, and I used to see all her nursing books and was really inspired to follow the same path. My mum didn’t want me to “clear up other people’s dirt”, as she described it! I think she knew what a demanding job nursing is and was worried it would take over my life. However, I have always been passionate about nursing and didn't want to do anything else.”

Margaret started at Good Hope Hospital in 1974, working bank shifts in various departments including 17 years in the Emergency Department (ED). She worked nights, as her husband was a police officer, and they often worked opposite shifts so between them they juggled bringing up their young family. Margaret remarks that it was common for nurses and police officers to marry, and it was common for nurses with children to work on the bank, where they could have the flexibility needed for family life.

Margaret’s reputation as a great nurse became known in her local neighbourhood in Tamworth. Growing up, her daughter Nicola remembers neighbours describing her mum’s ‘magic hands’, and children popping in with minor injuries regularly.

Margaret added: “I really enjoyed the variety of roles at Good Hope and worked in lots of different areas such as ITU, vascular, and pre-op assessment. When I first started at Good Hope, I used to get into the Richard Salt Unit lifts and go to whichever floor I was needed on; I only came unstuck when I first started working in the Emergency Department as I couldn’t reach it from the lift so had no idea how to get there!”

In 1998, Nicola also began working at Good Hope Hospital as a nurse in the endoscopy unit and is now a colorectal nurse specialist. It’s a real family affair; Margaret’s sister is has just retired as an advanced nurse practitioner, her granddaughter is about to start in the ambulance service and, despite her reservations about Margaret becoming a nurse, her mum ended up working as a healthcare assistant. Margaret’s two children and her four grandchildren were born in Good Hope’s maternity unit.

Margaret continues: “Over the decades, I really feel like the size of the hospital hasn’t changed that much and yet we’ve seen a big population increase and the closure of other local services, such as Tamworth General and St Editha’s Geriatric Hospital in Tamworth. Colleagues do a fantastic job coping with such an immense amount of pressure these days.”

“Nursing has changed such a lot; I think there are many positive things we need to refocus on when it comes to our nursing practice. It’s about harnessing new technology certainly but also remembering the basic things which have a huge impact on patients and their families. I remember caring for a patient in ITU who was very poorly, and I put rollers in her hair for her. When her family came to visit the next day, they said, “she looks like mum now”- I’ve never forgotten that. It’s about putting yourself in the patient’s position and thinking, what can I do for this person? Get the basics right and the rest will come.”

Many of Margaret’s stories reflect the amazing teamwork at Good Hope Hospital, the extremely tidy wards, which were everyone’s responsibility to maintain, and the family-feel of the place, where colleagues understood each other's needs. She remembers the consultants, and their families, coming in on Christmas Day to carve the turkey and the respect given to ‘nurse tutors’ who would work on the wards, teaching and setting high standards for junior members of the nursing team.

She also speaks fondly of the close bond with the local police force who would be in the Emergency Department regularly. There are lots of happy and sad memories, plus stories about the camaraderie that helped during the stressful times often experienced in A&E.

Margaret still receives Christmas cards from students she helped many decades ago, and many former colleagues have been getting in touch on social media to congratulate her on reaching her 51-year milestone. One message read: “Congratulations. You were such a lovely person to work with. So glad you got the recognition you deserve.” 

Some of Margaret’s memories of her career at Good Hope are not so positive. Working in the Emergency Department before seat belts became law meant Margaret saw a great deal of trauma cases from road traffic accidents, including severe facial injuries.

Margaret continues: “I’m still proud to be a nurse and still enjoy it. It’s an art, as well as a science; it’s got to be ‘in you’ as you must be interested and want to care about other people. It’s a selfless vocation. You need to look after your student nurses too - they are the staff nurses of the future. We are all ripples in the pond.”

As well as working in the outpatient department at weekends, Margaret also volunteers at a local food bank and spends lots of time running around for her family, who also live locally.

Daughter Nicola added; “Ask anyone who knows mum and they’d say she’s a ‘proper nurse’. It takes a special sort of person to be a nurse, especially an A&E nurse. I’m so proud of her and working with her at Good Hope is really special. On behalf of us all, ‘thank you’ mum for over five decades of care and dedication to thousands of patients and for being a wonderful and supportive colleague.”