Wayman Arundel, 66, has just completed his final shifts at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston where he spent the majority of his career.
He has pulled down the curtain on a nursing career which began in the early 1980s and has spanned more than 45 years.
Wayman Arundel has retired from the James Paget University Hospital after a 45-year nursing career (Image: James Paget University Hospital)
Mr Arundel said: “Nursing has been a wonderful career for me.
“The key to nursing is great communication.
“Being in hospital makes people anxious but if you can talk to patients, engage them in a chat, it puts them at their ease.”
Mr Arundel, from Lowestoft, began as a student nurse in April 1981 at the former St Nicholas Hospital in Great Yarmouth, initially caring for psychiatric patients.
Having originally trained and qualified as a chef, he switched to nursing in search of a more stable career.
James Paget Hospital in Gorleston (Image: James Paget Hospital)
Throughout his career, he worked across multiple wards, including Ward 17, which cared for cancer patients during the construction of the Sandra Chapman Centre.
He added: “You got to know all the patients and their families so well.
“It could be stressful at times because you felt so close to them – but providing them with care was so rewarding too.”
Mr Arundel also served as healthcare manager at Blundeston Prison for 10 years until its closure in 2013 and described the role as “the best and most rewarding job role I have ever had in my nursing career”.
Aerial view of James Paget Hospital in Gorleston (Image: James Paget Hospital)
He went on to work as an agency nurse, supporting hospitals, a GP surgery and police stations.
Over the past few years, he has cared for patients at the Paget as a bank nurse, mainly working on Wards 3 and 15.
He is now looking forward to cycling, playing golf and travelling with his partner Carole in their retro caravan, as well as enjoying time with his grandchildren during his retirement.