Patricia Beattie, a former Practice Nurse at Stenhousemuir Health Centre, recently retired after working in the NHS for an incredible 50 years.
Known as Tricia to many, she has treated several generations of the same families during her long career and recalled how when mums would bring their babies and toddlers for vaccinations, she could remember when she vaccinated the mums!
The second eldest of a family of eight, she was named after her father’s sister, Patricia, who was a nursing sister in Kent, and he always said that she would follow her namesake into nursing.
Tricia began her nursing training at 17 and a half and has fond memories of her time in the former Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary where she mainly worked in the surgical unit.
After marrying and having her two children, she worked on the nurse bank which saw her sent to just about every ward in the hospital at some point. In the late 1980s she began working as a Practice Nurse.
Tricia explained: “In 1989, doctors were taking on Practice Nurses and the late Dr Crookston asked if I’d like to work with him. The job certainly evolved over the years as I did courses on asthma, COPD, diabetes and more. But I loved every minute of it.”
She said: “I feel so lucky to have been a nurse. I never thought about doing anything else and I can honestly say that I’ve loved my job.”
Tricia hopes to spend more time visiting daughter Nicola and family in Paris, as well as spending time with her son Ryan and his family in Bainsford. However, she admits that she will miss the many patients and all the staff she worked with over the last 50 years.
Photo courtesy of Michael Gillen at the Falkirk Herald
