How a hospital stay as a child shaped Ebonny’s nursing career

Ebonny's story

Ebonny is an anaesthetics assistant who works at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. She graduated with an Honours Degree in Children's Nursing from Robert Gordon University in 2006.

Why did Ebonny choose a nursing career?

Ebonny explains, “I was in hospital to get my appendix out when I was 11 on Christmas Eve, and the nursing team were brilliant.” She says it inspired her to give patients and families in hospital the same welcoming feeling that she experienced as a child.

Ebonny’s journey to becoming a registered nurse

Ebonny left school after S5 and applied to Robert Gordon University to study nursing. Her first application was not successful, but she tried again the following year and was accepted into the 3-year children’s nursing degree programme.

After graduating, Ebonny registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and started applying for jobs in the NHS as a newly qualified nurse. She got her first nursing job working in theatres at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, where she continues to care for children and their families today.

Skills for a successful nursing career

Ebonny tells us about the key skills that she uses in her role as a nurse. She says “organisation, time management and people skills” are the most important skills she has developed in her role.

She uses her organisational and time management skills to effectively manage theatre lists, making sure everyone needing surgery has their procedure on time. Ebonny also organises and prepares patients before and after their surgery to make sure everything runs smoothly within the hospital theatres.

Communication and collaboration within a multidisciplinary team are essential skills. Everything in the hospital theatres needs to run smoothly. It also ensures that patients, surgeons, nurses, operating department practitioners, and theatre support workers are in the right place at the right time. Ebonny tells us, “There are lots of people and things to organise.” 

Nursing is a rewarding career

Even after working as a children’s nurse for 12 years, Ebonny admits positive feedback from patients and families can “still bring a tear to my eye.” She feels proud that the hard work she has put into her role can positively impact people’s lives.

Ebonny describes being a children’s nurse as hard work, but “there is nothing more rewarding you can do than nursing.”

Her advice to anyone looking to get into nursing “if you hone into what you really enjoy and what you really love doing […] if you can make it your career, then do it!”