Bev Belcher – Health and Social Care
Experienced Healthcare Support Worker, Bev Belcher, is reaping the benefits of undertaking the Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker apprenticeship with RNN Training alongside her role at Rotherham Hospital where she has worked for 15 years.
The last 12 months have been a challenging time for healthcare workers, but Bev’s tutor Wendy praises her for the level of resilience and adaptability she has shown, in addition to the core skills all healthcare workers need, such as compassion and commitment.
For the last 15 years, Bev has assisted patients’ hygiene or mobilisation following procedures such as hip and knee replacements, as well as assisting nurses with their duties. However, this year has seen Bev gain new experiences.
She said: “When COVID-19 struck they closed my usual ward, the orthopaedic elective ward, and moved me to the trauma ward. When the first wave ended we went back to the ward, but they closed it again at the start of the second wave and I was moved to the general surgery ward.
“I learned a lot during this time. Juggling my apprenticeship alongside all of this change was a challenge, but I kept it up.”
Bev had always avoided training opportunities previously, saying that she was happy doing her job, but in October 2019 she decided to enrol on the apprenticeship. In February 2021, Bev was Highly Commended in our Apprentice of the Year Awards.
Bev said: “It’s nice to be recognised, but this award could have gone to any apprentice working in the NHS, we’ve all worked so hard over the last 12 months. My mum was a nurse, so it’s nice to have made her proud.
“It’s funny, I was never interested in taking part in training before, but now I’ve become a real advocate for training and apprenticeships. I never thought I could do it, but when I returned to learning, even though I was nervous, I realised how much I actually knew once I started writing it all down!
“Looking to the future I’m potentially interested in moving onto the Trainee Nurse Associate programme, but if that’s not possible I’ll definitely be pursuing a move to a Band 3 position. I’m ready to take on new challenges and advance my career.
“My advice to anyone thinking about an apprenticeship is just to go for it.”