So wonderful to be able to help people move forward

My duties

"For more than 12 years I have been working in various GP surgeries, both as a medical assistant and as a practice nurse. The patients whom I assist suffer from Diabetes, COPD and/or cardiovascular diseases.
Since some time now I have also been handling the care for the elderly. My heart goes out to this group of patients; growing old is not always easy these days. We try to enable them to live independently in their own homes for as long as possible, by signalling potential problems in time and helping them out with all sorts of practical and medical matters. People often don't know to which organisations they can turn for help.

The way we work

The medical-technical side of my job is very interesting, but what I find truly gratifying is to advise and assist people. The purest form of giving care, actually. This can consist of something minor, like helping patients on the phone, but also in times of grief surrounding a death of a patient. That's also one of the beautiful aspects of working in a GP surgery: you get to know the people well, because you see them grow up and develop. We, the practice nurses, can spend more time with a patient than the GP. Therefore, we can stay longer during house visits, for instance, until we have answered all the patients' questions.

What makes working here special?

We work well together as a team, which is pleasant for the patients. We share basic rules, but also have our own responsibilities.

We try not to impose measures on our patients, but we give advice: we prefer the patient to take his or her own decisions."