Well-earned rest for nurse Linda

Long-serving and well-known community nurse Linda Stafford is looking forward to rest and family time, having retired after 44 years in healthcare.

 
Most recently serving as an advanced nurse practitioner with Beechfield Medical Centre in Spalding, Linda spent more than 20 years as a community nurse firstly in Spalding and then Long Sutton and Holbeach.

 
She said: “I especially loved my job in the community dealing with people on a one-to-one basis and being able to give skilled nursing care within their homes.

 
“I did look after a lot of people who were dying at home and I found that very humbling. To help somebody who wanted to be at home to die to be able to do that was very rewarding.

 
“In the community, you get to know the patients very well and when I transferred into the surgery I’d get people coming in and saying ‘you looked after my mum.’

 
“It was lovely there to work with patients of all ages right from babies up to the elderly.

 
“The thing I will always remember most is the teamwork. I’ve worked with some wonderful people.”

 
Linda initially trained as a dental nurse in Leicester in 1973, subsequently undertaking training as a State Registered Nurse between 1974 and 1977, in Nottingham.

 
She undertook a number of roles in that area and obtained her district nurse qualification in 1980 whilst working again in Leicester.  

 
She moved to Spalding in 1982 and between then and 1989 undertook a range of roles locally and at Pilgrim Hospital as a ward sister.

 
In 1989, she became part of the community district nursing team for the Spalding area, and from 2008 to 2012 was the community matron for the Long Sutton and Holbeach areas, before joining Beechfield Medical Centre.  

 
Throughout her career, Linda has been actively involved with the St John Ambulance cadets and has held a wide variety of training and representational roles, including that of assistant commissioner for Lincolnshire.

 
Married to Pete, Linda has two grown-up children and her greatest joy was to have become “nana” to Rosie in 2014.