Cardiff and Vale College Lecturer Tracy returns to nursing on the front line

A former Specialist Nurse before becoming one of CAVC’s industry specialist staff, Tracy retains her registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The Cardiff and Vale University Health Board contacted Tracy In February asking if she’d like to return to nursing.

Tracy was determined to help as much as possible while juggling her new responsibilities with her role as a lecturer and supporting her students. But when the Easter holidays came along she decided to go back to working full time on the frontline.

Working in palliative care, Tracy provided vital end of life nursing care, symptom control and support for terminally ill patients for whom hospital was not an option. She worked tirelessly and selflessly to nurse patients in their homes.

“This has been the most humbling and emotional experience of my whole nursing career – I’ll never forget 2020!” Tracy said. “I will of course return to teaching now Summer Term has started in order to support Access to Nursing learners who are so anxious about securing their university offers for September.

“Please stay safe and follow government guidelines during this unprecedented time.”

Cardiff and Vale College Principal Kay Martin said: “All of us at CAVC would like to commend and thank Tracy, along with all the other nurses, doctors, NHS staff and key workers who continue to work tirelessly to keep us safe during these uncertain times.

“We see the communities we represent across as the Capital Region as being at the heart of that we do. That is why we want to do our bit as well.

“The College is linking with our network of employers and community contacts to source much needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and make it available to those who need it in our community. Anyone can help.”

If you have a stock of PPE in your business/ possession, you can donate it to CAVC to make available to front-line staff at this time. We are not just looking for donations -if you are a supplier of PPE and have available stocks now and in future weeks, please let us know. We are also looking to generate funds to purchase stocks and make them available to those who need them at this time.

We are looking for:

• Masks
• Gloves
• Gowns
• Goggles

Ideally these would be the types commonly used in healthcare settings. However, if you have any of the above kit usually used within a different sector, for example construction or automotive, it still may be very valuable to help protect some frontline staff where some protection is better than none. 

The College has donated our stocks of the above usually used by staff and students in places like science labs or construction/ automotive workshops/ catering.  

To donate, or if you have any questions around stocks you may have to donate or supply the College with, please contact us via: [email protected].