We pay a fond farewell to Carol Whitefield, senior nurse, infection prevention and control, who retired on 4 May after a remarkable 37 years’ service.
In September 1985, Carol started her nursing training at Glasgow’s Victoria Infirmary Hospital. This was the old modular training programme whereby she spent time in other hospitals within the area which had specialised departments.
In September 1988, Carol was successful in being appointed to the role of ophthalmic nurse based in ward nine at Stonehouse hospital where she rotated between ward, theatre and out-patients. After a few years Carol’s role within theatre became permanent, covering roles such as recovery, anaesthetic nurse and peri-operative nurse where she trained new staff. Carol’s management skills and expertise were very much appreciated by doctors and nurses alike and should problems occur – which they often did – Carol was called upon to resolve.
In 2001, Stonehouse hospital was closed to acute services and Carol was transferred to University Hospital Hairmyres where she was job matched to general theatre recovery. During this time a job vacancy arose for an infection control nurse to which Carol was successfully appointed.
In 2006, Carol was encouraged to apply for the role of senior infection control nurse at University Hospital Wishaw and, again, was successfully appointed. She remained at University Hospital Wishaw until 2019 when she was transferred to University Hospital Hairmyres, originally to cover sick leave for a month, but remained here until her retirement.
Carol is married to Allan and has two daughters, Hazel (30) and Kirsten (26). Allan recently retired from Police Scotland and both Carol and Allan will now enjoy their well-deserved retirement together.
Christina Coulombe, head of infection prevention and control, said: “Carol has been an invaluable member of the infection prevention and control team since she joined in 2001. She has a wealth of knowledge which she has passed onto her colleagues. Carol will be sorely missed and we all wish her well in her retirement.”
