Steve Batchelor: providing healthcare in the community

Having had a long career in management, Steve started volunteering as a community first responder in his spare time. His love of providing healthcare to the community lead to him making a career change, and moving into the healthcare sector.

Steve returned to university, first completing a foundation degree, Assistant Practitioner (Nursing), in July 2022 as a degree apprentice. He complete his BSc in Adult Nursing in April 2023.

Initially Steve joined the Ambulance Service as an emergency care assistant, and ultimately moved into nursing, where he worked as an associate practitioner in his local community nursing service while completing his degree to become a registered nurse.

Steve says that his current role as a community nurse is by far the best job he'd had to date. Working in the community to deliver healthcare to patients in their own homes allows him to use the skills and knowledge gained during his studies to make a real impact on people’s lives, who would otherwise struggle to access healthcare. Knowing that the work he's doing has such a positive impact on the residents of his community is 'a privilege' and remains the driving force that inspires him to strive to further empower patients to be the best versions of themselves they can be.

As a recent graduate, Steve's advice to other students is to embrace every challenge:

"There will be ups and downs along the way, but don’t look at graduation as the end, more like the end of the beginning. Use every experience gained during your learning en route to graduation as the foundations on which to build your future."