Laura Fay
A London Irish Story as told to Matthew Dunne-Miles
“I got COVID just before Christmas...my immediate network had left London.
I knew I wasn’t going home, but not having Christmas with anyone...that feeling was just miserable.”
I'm born and raised in Glasnevin, North Dublin. I’m one of six. We all went to school and university in Dublin so stayed at home longer than maybe we should have! It's something I love and hate – but I love that we have a relationship in our adult years. I would be quite a proud Dub! I miss it as well. I wanted to be a nurse all through school. That was my aspiration. My brothers and sisters were born quadruplets and my Mom had night nurses. One of those nurses, Eimear, became close to us. That has grown for the past twenty years. I consider her like an older sister. She's a tough nurse and takes no crap! But people respect her. I was like: ‘Wow! I just want to have that impact on people's lives.’
I moved at the end of September. My partner had been living here while I had gone back to college to specialise in paediatric nursing. We could finish the long-distance relationship and be in the same country for the first time. There’s also the appeal of the NHS. I was drawn to a children's hospital here. They do fantastic work and are ahead of the game in research. I was fortunate enough to have gotten a job.
On an average day, I get up at six. I'm out the door in ten minutes and on the bus into central. I go in early, as mental preparation for the day. On a shift, you don't have time to think about yourself. I take that half-hour in the staff room, have a cup of tea, and just brace myself. I work in a surgical ward. We have a lot of turnover. You're trying to get people out before others come back from surgery. We have a 15-minute breakfast and a 45-minute lunch. We start finishing up at around quarter to 8 pm and hand over to the night staff. It ends up being a 12-and-a-half hour shift. I come home and fall into bed!
It’s challenging meeting people wearing a mask. I've been working with these guys for four months but haven't seen their full faces. Children feed off body language. With the mask, they're a bit hesitant. That's one thing I find difficult.
“Working in the health system,
I would say communicate with your family and friends,
they can be your best asset.”
My aspiration always was to become a nurse, so I sugar-coated the job in my mind. I enjoyed college and did placements, but that doesn’t prepare you for the emotional side. How can they teach you that in a classroom? Working as an adult nurse, we had large case-loads and I couldn’t give all I wanted on a daily basis. I wanted to be a children’s nurse and had an image in my head that it would be different. But, it's a stressful environment. It has taken a toll on my wellbeing. I need to re-evaluate what I can do in a shift. There will be someone taking over from me. If I can’t do everything – that's okay. I've talked to many nurses and we all feel the same way, that there's always this guilt.
“My aspiration always was to become a nurse, so I sugar-coated the job in my mind.”
I wouldn't be a big crier but when I moved to London, I cried often in the first month! The new environment, missing home, new job, all piled in at once. When I come home from a shift, I've been known to be extremely angry, frustrated, and impatient. If you come near me, God bless you! It's learning to recognise that. Working in the health system, I would say communicate with your family and friends, they can be your best asset. On my days off, it's important to make sure that my mental health is in check to go into a shift. Walking is probably the most therapeutic thing. Being in Brixton, Brockwell Park is my stomping ground. I get a coffee and look at the views of London. I’ll be in a great mood when I'm back.
I'm not a sportswoman but I joined a GAA club to make friends. It’s a fantastic way of getting a feel for London. I'm hoping training sessions will come back soon – even if I'm the worst on the team!
I got COVID just before Christmas and was quarantining on my own for ten days. My immediate network had left London. I knew I wasn't going home, but not having Christmas with anyone was just like “Oh My God!”. That feeling was just miserable. The Irish nurses minded me. They brought over food and made sure I was okay. The sister of a girl I met through the GAA called over on Christmas Day with treats. Those ten days weren't that bad, in hindsight, because of the fantastic network around me.
