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Valerie Shelton
Professional background
I carried out my general training at St. Thomas' Hospital between 1956 and 1960 followed by part 1 Midwifery at Derby City General Hospital. On completion, I worked as a nurse in the USA for three and a half years.
I returned to the UK in 1964 and worked at Rolls Royce as an industrial nursing sister before moving to work at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary when the intensive care unit was opened.
Subsequently I moved into further education on pre-nursing, NNEB and City & Guilds community care courses. From time to time, I returned to nursing at the Nuffield Hospital, Derby as a staff nurse and in various care homes.
Professional Concern
I was motivated to set up Professional Concern following the deaths of my sister and a former colleague. Their final days and their deaths were unsatisfactory in so many ways.
It is the provision of basic nursing care that concerns me most and I frequently call to mind the words of Florence Nightingale: "Every patient shall be an honoured guest in our house."