Changing perceptions

Aileen Waton's career in nursing is far removed from the one she originally wanted to pursue, in interior design.

Now Bupa UK area manager in Glasgow, Ms Waton had not thought she would become a nurse when she was growing up, and she decidedly did not want to work in a care home.

‘Before going to university, I worked for a few months in a care home to earn some money, but I didn’t enjoy it,’ she recalls. ‘I had expected to sit and chat with residents and didn’t know that I would be involved in personal care. That was probably due to being young and inexperienced.’

After failing to get the grades she needed for art school, Ms Waton considered her other options. Her interest in mental health and psychiatry led her to specialise in personality disorders as part of a nursing degree