Vibeke Karner Nicklin, an 80-year-old nurse who moved to the UK from Denmark in the 1960s, is celebrating 60 years of service in the NHS and has no intention of retiring. She currently works at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside.
A Journey from Denmark to the NHS
Vibeke, who lives in Birkenhead, Merseyside, came to England in 1964 intending to work as an au pair for one year. After meeting her now husband, Roger, she decided to stay. She spent a year as an au pair in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, before beginning her nursing training at Amersham General Hospital in 1965.
She told the Liverpool Echo: "I wanted to be a nurse, and in Denmark they like you to have a year out where you don't live at home so you get used to taking orders and your parents don't do everything for you. A lot of people at the time went abroad and were au pair girls. It was sort of an adventure at the same time as waiting till you could start your training."
Challenges and Milestones
Vibeke faced a setback during her training when an administrative error meant she had to start over after believing she had transferred from Amersham to Clatterbridge Hospital. Her training ultimately took four years instead of the expected three.
She said: "I'd applied to transfer to Clatterbridge and I got a letter to confirm that so I moved up here and did a month or two carrying on my training but then the head of nursing at the time called me in and said, 'I'm awfully sorry I read the letter wrong you haven't had a transfer, you have to start all over again.' I was so upset, but when you're 18, you're not taking on the establishment, are you?"
After marrying Roger in Denmark on August 1, 1970, the couple moved to Reading, where she worked at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. They later moved to Blackburn, where she worked at Blackburn Royal Infirmary before returning to Clatterbridge around 1980. She eventually moved to Arrowe Park after staff from Clatterbridge were transferred following the closure of the hospital's old buildings.
Changes in Nursing and the NHS
Vibeke has witnessed significant changes in healthcare over her career. She noted that infection control has transformed practice: "In the old days, we looked like nurses. We looked crisp, clean, and disciplined. But I think the biggest change is infection control. We didn't wear gloves, so when you cleaned somebody, you didn't have gloves on, which sounds ridiculous. It would never happen today. Gloves are worn for everything now. Also everything is sterilized these days. We packed drums for cotton wool and boiled up needles and reused them."
She also observed that patients recovering from an appendix operation would once have stayed in hospital for around a week, whereas some can now go home the same day following keyhole surgery. However, she believes hospitals are under more pressure now, with patients often more seriously ill and beds in short supply.
She said: "The ward I'm on, we are always full. We're literally sending one patient home, and the bed is full within half an hour. We were never short of beds like we are now. When people come into A&E these days, it's a nightmare. I feel sorry for the patients, and I'm not blaming anybody for that. There just isn't the capacity. I think people are far more ill than they used to be."
No Plans to Retire
Despite turning 80 last week, Vibeke has no plans to retire and feels fortunate to still be in good health. She said: "I've never wanted to be anything else for as long as I can remember. It was sort of always understood that I would be a nurse. You meet so many different people, and I obviously enjoy looking after people. I know it's cliché, but I don't feel 80. I'm lucky I've got my health and everything else. I don't find it hard work to go to work. People keep saying to me, 'Oh, when do you want to retire?' I'm like, 'when I've had enough!"
Vibeke and Roger, who will turn 80 himself in November, have two daughters, Heidi, 53, and Rebekka, 50. As they prepare to celebrate her milestone birthday, Vibeke said she is looking forward to marking the occasion with friends, family, and former colleagues.
