A woman who drew inspiration from the nurses who cared for her as a child has embarked on her nursing career following the completion of her studies at Coventry University.
Sehanaj Kaur, now 37, spent considerable periods of her early years in hospital after receiving a diagnosis of Graves’ disease aged three – a condition that caused rapid growth and premature bone development, resulted in a protruding left eye and led to fainting episodes connected to its impact on her heart rate and metabolism.
Raised in Kent before relocating to Coventry, she subsequently received a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis in her twenties, along with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ADHD – challenges which impacted her education and meant she fell short of her anticipated school results.
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Although she had known since the age of eight that nursing was her calling, Sehanaj spent years believing that opportunity had slipped away.
Everything shifted at 33, when she resolved not to allow any obstacles to prevent her pursuing her ambition. She completed an access course and secured a place to study Children and Young People’s Nursing at Coventry University.
Having recently qualified, Sehanaj has immediately taken up a position at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust.
She said: “I can understand what these children are going through because I’ve been there. Sometimes just feeling understood makes all the difference.” Looking back on her time in hospital as a child, Sehanaj remembers the care and empathy shown by nurses during difficult and bewildering periods.
She said: “It was the nurses who inspired me. My parents couldn’t always be there and it was the nurses who stayed with me, listened to me, comforted me and helped me feel safe. I saw them as the unsung heroes and I wanted to give back even a fraction of what they gave to me.
“When I didn’t understand what was happening, they showed me kindness and patience. Even when I was pulling out my cannula or wandering the ward, they never got angry – they just took care of me.
“They’d take me to the playroom in the middle of the night and made me feel cared for, never like a burden. That stayed with me and that’s the impact I want to have on children.”
Although she found conventional schooling challenging, Sehanaj explains that university – particularly nursing – provided the environment where she could excel.
She said: “I wasn’t very good at school but that didn’t mean I wasn’t capable – I just needed the right environment and support. University was different. My lecturers really listened to me and believed in me, especially when I doubted myself.
“Nursing is practical, hands‐on and compassionate, and having such a large teaching hospital on Coventry’s doorstep gave me invaluable exposure to children’s nursing.”
Prior to embarking on her nursing career, she worked as a nursery nurse and later built a career in retail, where she eventually progressed to a management position at Lush Spa Birmingham. Now practising as a qualified nurse, she describes fulfilling her lifelong dream as something that still feels unreal.
She said: “That eight‐year‐old who decided she wanted to be a children’s nurse – she made it. I did it. And every day I put my uniform on, I’m reminded why I wanted this so badly.”
This International Nurses Day (May 12), Sehanaj is planning to advance her career in paediatrics, with hopes of ultimately focusing on paediatric diabetes care.
She added: “If I can make even one moment easier for a child or their family, that’s a job well done – and that’s why I’m proud to be a nurse.”
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