Today it's International 'Nurses’ Day. It happens every year on 12 May - the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth - to celebrate the profession and how nurses make such a difference every day.

Specially for her favourite colleagues' newsletter, our Lead Infection Prevention and Control nurse, Jean Robinson, recalls her training days back in 1986..... when sisters were like Hattie Jacques, when nurses had to be silent during a doctor's ward round and when bed-rest meant a patient could smoke in bed!! Really??!! :

She recalls: "I look back at my training with great fondness. There were 21 of us who started the training in September 1986 and 20 qualified (one dropped out after 6 weeks). The wards sisters at the time were very much like the matron role that Hattie Jacques played -  tyrants but with a heart of gold.

"I remember one of the sisters from male orthopaedics  standing at the end of the ward clapping her hands and all the junior nurses rushing to her. The patients had to look pristine; dressings were only completed at a certain time of the day, and the patients on bedrest were allowed to have a  smoke in the bed – health and safety out of the window there then!.

"When it was certain doctors ward round everyone had to be silent – not easy. We used to dress up at Christmas always great fun, and take a bed out of use so we had space for the Christmas tree.

"When we trained we worked on every speciality, medical, surgical, gynae, urology, theatres, A & E, orthopaedics, psychiatry and community – it gave you a very grounding. As a student nurse leaving a placement you’d either get thrown in the bath covered in talc, or squirted with an enema.

"It was hard work but we had some great fun as well. I could go on and on!  Happy times at the start of my lovely career!