One nurse can change your life, former heroin addict tells CNO summit

The respect and kind words of just one nurse can help to change the life of a patient for the better, delegates at this week’s chief nursing officer for England summit heard.

Former heroin addict Nina George told the conference in Birmingham how one prison nurse helped her to turn her life around after she spent a year behind bars for heroin possession in 2009.

Ms George, now an NHS volunteer, revealed that the drug had taken over her life and it was not until she met a nurse during her time in custody that she found the confidence and self-respect to change.

‘This nurse smiled at me and gave me the time of day while I was on my detox programme. She high-fived me when I successfully got to the end of it and I hung my certificate in my cell with pride,’ she said.

‘It was this positive support that helped me through and now I like who I am.'

View Nina’s story here.