Career Profile - David Smith, Norwich, Norfolk

Why did you become a nurse?

After leaving university (where I studied biology) I was looking for jobs that combined thinking with a practical component. One night, I was in a pub with my sister and two of her friends who were both nurses. As I listened to them describing their work I though 'that's it'.

How has your career developed since you started nursing?

Slightly haphazardly, I had decided not to continue in nursing at the end of my training as I was deeply disillusioned with a 'fordist' model of task-oriented, impersonal care. However reading is one of my defence mechanisms and I read Marie Manthey's book on primary nursing and thought 'if it can be like this, it is worth sticking with'.