Intensive therapy nurse Erin Allen talks to Barrie Farnsworth about how things have changed for frontline hospital staff through the pandemic.
ERIN Allen, who qualified as a nurse last September and then got a job in Chesterfield Royal Hospital’s Intensive Therapy Unit, has truly been ‘on the frontline’ ever since… but remains convinced that the switch to nursing in her thirties was the right thing to do. She’s also the mum with a three-year-old daughter – and a husband who is also classed as a key worker so regular childcare is essential – so the last three months have been both hectic and harrowing. Ever the professional – and one who selected the ‘surgical nursing’ option after qualifying because she wanted to work in critical care – Erin will only say of that period: “It’s not been easy, but that’s the way it is.” Brought up in Matlock, Erin worked as a healthcare assistant in Bristol before returning to Derbyshire and working at Ashgate Hospice before her switch to CRH…