Karen Brewer - image shows her standing in front of a window in a dark blue nurse's uniform with belt

Celebrating Nurses' Day - meet Karen Brewer

A mum who finally fulfilled her childhood ambition of becoming a nurse at the age of 51 is encouraging others to follow their dreams on Nurses’ Day.

Karen Brewer, 62, is a practice development nurse for East Kent Hospitals, responsible for training healthcare support workers who are new to the Trust and to healthcare.

She began her own career in the NHS as a healthcare support worker at the age of 41, after working as a shop assistant, school midday supervisor, shelf stacker and cashier while her children were growing up.

The mum of five, who lives in Dover and has nine grandchildren, said: “Nursing has always been in my dreams but I never dreamt I would achieve it.

“Now I say to everyone ‘you’re never too old’. When I’m teaching new healthcare support workers I tell them I haven’t always worn this uniform, and even in this uniform I learn something new every day.”

Karen cared for her father in law after he suffered a serious stroke in 1999. He moved in with the family for three years before he died.

She said: “It was a privilege to be able to care for him and to support his children in caring for him, and it made me realise I would like to care for people as a career.

“It reinforced my want to be a nurse but I thought it was just a pipe dream.

“Even when I got a job as a healthcare support worker on the Neuro Rehab ward at Buckland hospital I never imagined I would one day be qualified and teaching other people.”

Karen had completed several adult education courses in the evening while her children were growing up, and her ward manager offered her the chance to take an NVQ course to develop her skills.

She said: “I had never taken a blood pressure reading before I stepped onto the ward.

“There was so much to learn but the team were very supportive and I spent four years before moving to Harvey ward at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

“The opportunity to train as a nurse came up and I knew I had to go for it.

“I was 48 when I started my nursing course at university, and I was the oldest in the tutor group by 30 years – but I had the most care experience.

“I couldn’t believe I was actually on the course that I had always wanted to do. I had never done an academic piece of work before but my tutor and the rest of the group were so supportive and helped me along the way.”

Karen’s first job as a qualified nurse was on Treble ward, where she had once worked as a healthcare support worker.

She spent six years working on the wards before deciding to take on a new challenge and joining the Workforce Development and Education team as a Clinical Skills and Learning Support Facilitator.

She said: “I felt I had a lot of experience I could share. I always wanted to support people in their learning, and I started by training people on the wards for three years before being asked to take on the project to improve our training for healthcare support workers.

“The Ready to Care programme was launched in April 2021, and was initially intended to run for a year but it is still going and has really developed and become more robust.

“We’re seeing more people coming through and the feedback from managers and learners is fantastic.”

Last year, Karen became the lead for healthcare support workers, which she said was a huge privilege.

She said: “My healthcare support worker experience has been the backbone of my training and I relate my teaching to my experiences on the ward.

“I don’t know if I would have been ready to start a nursing course sooner than I did, but it’s fantastic to finally be wearing the uniform and even better that I can help others on their own career pathways.”