Origins

I was born in Oviedo (Spain) in 1993, although I grew up in Granada. I've included a map of Spain because I like to know where places are located when learning about them. Don't worry, I don't expect you to know these things beforehand (I didn't have a clue where Cork was before I contemplated coming to Ireland). Also, I just love maps. Data plotting too. Anyway, let's focus.

I've always been very creative from a very young age. When I was a child I dreamed of being a writer. Telling stories and using words to convey feelings and scenes has always fascinated me. I used to read a lot too. Far more than I have in the last 10 years it pains me to admit. I used to enjoy art and music too. I took three years of violin classes and play piano (self-taught). But, on top of that, I really liked my science subjects at school. I loved maths and physics during my school years, but have become a bit rusty. The most "complex" calculations I have done recently were drug dose calculations, but I wouldn't consider that maths. Computers always interested me too, although I was never one of those that created mods for their favourite videogame or tried to break into the devices connected to a specific Wi-Fi. It was all more of a passing curiosity and, I suppose, admiration.

I don't fully remember how I decided to pursue a career in nursing. I had an interest in health science careers, but both my parents were doctors and I hated the whole idea of doing medicine. They were so focused on their jobs that I barely saw them around. But I thought nursing was different. You have your responsibilities and your duties, but I did not have to "take work home". Which is true, but you do take on the same emotional distress.

Studies

In 2012 I moved to Madrid to study a nursing degree. Madrid is an amazing city. I had visited it before but being part of it for four years was a complete different story. Looking back you realize how much those four years of a bachelor degree is spent learning how to be an adult (and enjoying life like if you weren't meant to be one yet).

The nursing degree was tough. We didn't have that many assignments though. Most of the time was spent studying crazy amounts of theory and spending time inside different hospital services to get practical experience. For the most part, I used to wake up at 5AM to go to the hospital (which always happened to be across Madrid, taking more than an hour to get there) and didn't come back home until finishing my lectures at 7PM. If you were to ask me today if I would do it again, the answer is clear - NO. While it was worth it at the time, I don't think I could take it in 2022.

Those years I had loads of fun too in Madrid. I got to meet very nice people from around Spain (one of them is actually the reason why I later moved to Ireland). I also did an Erasmus placement for three months in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. I applied to do it in Norway and they didn't give it to me (they wouldn't allow Erasmus students in a general hospital, only nursing homes). Another option would have been Rome, but Italians are too similar to the Spanish, and I wanted something different.

Bulgaria was incredible. I went in my last year of nursing, which is all practical placements, so I didn't need to worry about studying in another language. I probably would have learned more about nursing had I stayed in Madrid those months instead, but it was probably the best decision I could have taken. Meeting people alike, exploring other cultures and countries, traveling, traveling, traveling... A unique and unforgettable experience.

After finishing in 2016 I worked here and there but nothing stable. A good friend of mine had moved to Cork (Ireland) after Christmas of that same year, and she was very happy working in a nursing home, with a decent salary and a full time contract. All this is impossible as a new graduate in Spain currently. I applied to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and got my paperwork together. Six months later, in June of 2017, I arrived to Cork. With no accommodation, no job or anything. Even worse, my friend had recently moved to Galway as she fell in love with it after visiting only once. Don't worry, she missed Cork enough (I like to think it was me) and she came back after less than a year.

Working life

I dropped a CV to every hospital in the city and got my first interview for Cork University Hospital (CUH) only 10 days after arriving. It seemed it was true that in Ireland there were opportunities for us after all.

I worked in a surgical ward in CUH for four years. Four years of heavy work, day and night-shifts that felt endless in an environment that was chronically short-staffed. However, I had the opportunity to work with lovely staff. I think I went from a complete new graduate (and probably foolish) nurse to a very competent one.

Working in Ireland also gave me the economic independence I was dreaming of. One of the best things about nursing is that you are generally allowed to schedule your roster. For instance, you can work four days in a row and have five days off. Those first years I managed to travel a lot. USA, Italy, France, Iceland... Work was hard, and the pay wasn't as great for the first couple years, but I still was able to enjoy a lot of my free time.

Returning to the surgical ward, it became apparent to me that CUH is a very dysfunctional hospital. There is no HDU (High Dependency Unit), a specialised service providing care at a level between the ward and ICU. This meant we had to care for very unwell patients at the ward level. And that is if you are lucky enough to get a bed; sometimes you might be lying in a trolley in some corridor for more than 24 hours. But we try our best with what we have. I always went home thinking I should write about the crazy things that were happening (à la Adam Kay).

As it happens, I was always so tired I never got to write, but I sure remember it all too well. I think it's a bit of a Stockholm syndrome what we nurses develop. We know the place isn't good for us but at the same time you would miss that adrenaline rush or get a feeling that somebody has to look after those patients (and foolishly think that you aren't just a cog in a machine). Surgeons used to call our ward "Syria" because it was chaotic 24 hours a day. I ended up doing some shifts acting up as the manager of Syria. It's something I would probably have enjoyed more in a safer environment. It's hard to manage something when it's always falling to pieces.

So, you probably get I wasn't all that happy in that job. And you would be right. I had the idea of moving. My manager didn't want to release me which is a problem for us; if you want to move to another service within the hospital your manager has the ultimate decision. And being always short-staffed that was never going to happen. Moving to another hospital was a process I didn't want to go through as of yet, and then, just after a trip to Paris, Covid happened.

Hard times for everyone. For me Covid meant I had to forget about the idea of switching jobs. I actually felt very lucky to have a job, to be able to leave my house, and to socialize with my amazing colleagues and patients needing our care. It was hard, I won't deny it, but I won't go into the stories as we've heard too many of those. I did loads of overtime shifts too (sure what else could you do at that time outside of work), which definitely came handy later on to have some savings to rely on.

In 2021 my partner had to move to Dublin to pursue his oncology specialization. That was my opportunity to change jobs. I had been thinking of moving to ICU for a while. I applied to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (MMUH) and started a six-month educational program with them and UCD (University College Dublin). A good opportunity in which I learned a lot, but didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I asked for a transfer to theatre and they gave it to me. I worked there for the next six months as an anaesthetic and recovery nurse, which I really enjoyed. There is something about theatre that is very nice. It must be the controlled setting where barely anyone dies. You have a problem, we put you to sleep, cut you open, remove or fix the problem and goodbye. No seeing you tomorrow. No talking to crazy families. No sad outcomes on most cases (not that we see anyway). I felt myself being happy going to work again. I could also apply all the knowledge obtained from four years in that crazy CUH ward (Syria). It was a short sweet dream though. My partner had to move back to Cork for the next 2 years. The thing is, as happy as I was in that anaesthetic job, I didn't want to stay in Dublin. And there was something else too, something outside the nursing world that had come into my mind...

Looking forward

As ICU was a big let down for me and my nursing career, and I was reaching my burnout limits way too soon, I started playing around with the idea of doing something else. As I said before, I've always been quite creative, so I just needed to find the "thing" that allowed me to get money and enjoy it at the same time. I had met a few people that were working in IT related jobs (even some patients of mine) which probably helped to spark my curiosity.

It's hard to explain the emotions you go through when trying to decide if you should change career path. I felt like I would be throwing all of my work and years studying into the bin. But, at the same time, if I wanted to have a more enjoyable work life balance - it was now or never. It's a big decision though, as wanting a change doesn't necessarily mean that you will be good in another job. To try the waters I did some research and found CS50, a free course offered by Harvard University that their Computer Science students do in first year. I enrolled, and all I can say is that I loved it. Although I didn't complete it fully, I found it very interesting, stimulating and satisfying to go through the lectures and exercises.

In Ireland there are what are called conversion courses. Students that already have a degree can go back to college for a year and get a level 8 degree in a completely different field. In my case, I found a few conversion courses for Computer Science and ended up choosing UCC's High Diploma in Applied Computing Technology. I was accepted to it in May, I handed in my notice, and came back to Cork, in what has probably been one of the most important decisions I've ever taken in my life (apart of coming to Ireland).

Originally, I was going to work some shifts in my old ward in CUH while doing the course. However, I decided to commit fully to the course and enjoy it too. I had good savings that I could rely on, and I can always do some extra shifts to pick up some cash here and there, but without feeling under pressure.

The course is going very well and weirdly enough I'm enjoying being back to university. I say weirdly because I never thought I would go back to it... and to do something not related to Nursing. This time around I feel like it's a very different experience. I said earlier that when you do a degree at 18 you are still trying to figure out a lot about yourself. This time around my direction feels clearer, being less distracted from my goals. Not that I think that I did poorly in Nursing, but I could have probably taken more advantage of it too.

I wasn't lying about Spanish talking a lot right? Anyway, packing up! I'll leave below a timetable of the first semester of the High Diploma, which keeps me busy enough. I try to fit some time in between the classes and studying to go to the gym, meet some friends for a few pints and look after myself, which should always be the priority.