Truro, United Kingdom – When Lisa Jeffery was 21, she was rushed to the hospital, experiencing excruciating pain in her pelvis. She was suffering from an ectopic pregnancy – a condition where a fertilised egg implants outside the uterus – and required life-saving surgery. Although the procedure was swift, and she was able to leave the hospital a few days later, the warmth and compassion of the nurses who cared for her left a lasting mark. “It all stemmed from that,” she says. “From then on, I wanted to look after other people who were poorly.”
After a nursing career spanning three decades and five hospitals, Jeffery, 53, is now at a twilight time in her professional life. As a ward sister, she runs a gynaecology and urology unit with her team of nurses in Cornwall, the UK. She could, by all accounts, be winding down towards a quiet retirement.
