FOR many people, New Year's Eve was a celebration to bring in 2025. For one Basildon Hospital nurse, it has marked the start of her fifth decade working in Essex.

Jackie Smith, 64, from Stanford-le-Hope, had her first shift on New Year's Eve in 1984 at Orsett Hospital, before transferring to Basildon Hospital in 1989 – where she has remained ever since as a cardiology nurse, rising to become Senior Sister on James Mackenzie ward.

The beginning of a great career in 1989.

Jackie remembers her first shift vividly, saying: "It was New Year's Eve, and I just arrived – there was no induction, no support, nothing. I was just thrown in and you learnt everything on your feet."

Now, nurses are given a thorough induction before working on the wards, and extensive support by senior staff. There are also a variety of training and development programmes to develop their careers further, such as the nursing preceptorship.

Jackie has always treated patients with heart conditions as a cardiology nurse.

A senior sister in 2000.

"Cardiology was a new specialty for me. There is something to learn all the time, and I feel that you can make a huge difference to a patient's journey. What's key for me is the difference that you make to a patient at the end of the day, when you see them recover and go home."

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