Amateur dramatics, more opportunities for taking part in karaoke and some holidays are now on the cards for Advanced Nurse Practitioner Carol Wallace who retired from full time working recently, after caring for patients with mental health difficulties.
From the early 1980s Carol was an enrolled nurse involved in caring for older people at Bellsdyke Hospital. She later completed a conversion course and became a staff nurse, first at Bellsdyke and then in Ward 18 at the former Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary, where she was subsequently promoted to Senior Charge Nurse.
In 2010, when Ward 18 moved to Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Carol continued to work as a Senior Charge Nurse in Ward 3 before moving over to the Mental Health Liaison service where she had a special interest in Perinatal Mental Health.
A service redesign led to Mental Health Liaison becoming part of the Mental Health Acute Assessment and Treatment Service (MHAATS) at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, where Carol worked as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner until her recent retirement.
Carol left with retirement gifts including jewellery, fashion accessories, flowers and aperitifs and happily staff will still be able to see her smiling face when she returns to work for the NHS for two days a week.
