Becoming a locum dental nurse

Having worked in a practice in my hometown of Ilminster for 26 years, I was settled and in a routine that was very comfortable; I knew all the patients—life was good. But I wanted more—a challenge. I confided in my boss David, letting him know that I wanted to move on. I handed in my six month's notice; this was before I established the idea of becoming a locum dental nurse.

My last day of working in the practice had arrived, I started to constantly look at the clock—at 11am, I had only two hours to go. My stomach started doing somersaults, and I wondered if I had made the right decision to go ahead and become a locum dental nurse. I was due to leave this steady, regular wage and secure position, and dip my toe into the wide unknown, with no guarantee of work, let alone an income, to start my own locum dental nurse service. I thought to myself, it would work, why would it not? There was not a locum dental nurse service in Somerset who could help us at the practice whenever we were short-staffed. It had to work—I kept repeating this to myself. But my stomach was still doing somersaults, and my heart was skipping beats.