A health professional has retired following four decades devoted to the NHS in Scotland.
Karen King’s career began in Bellshill, the town where she was born, over 43 years ago when she was just 17.
She then worked her way around the west coast of Scotland and ended in her home county of Lanarkshire.
Karen, who lived in Hamilton before retiring to Girvan, said: “I have had a long and varied career in the NHS – starting and ending in Lanarkshire.
“I have had the pleasure and privilege of providing health services for very different communities across the west of Scotland – from being the only nurse on the island of Colonsay, to being part of a huge team in Lanarkshire who undertook the biggest mass vaccination programme in the history of the NHS.”
Karen started in Bellshill maternity unit as an auxiliary nurse in 1979. In 1981, she moved to Monklands District General Hospital to become a student nurse.
After Monklands, Karen undertook training in midwifery in the early 1990s before moving to Islay in 1997 where she spent four years as a ward manager.
From there, Karen spent 10 years in Oban, fulfilling various community and hospital roles including becoming the manager for the local hospice. With her wealth of experience, she also became a clinical skills instructor in the Western Isles.
In 2012, Karen returned to Lanarkshire where she worked for NHS 24 and in palliative care for The Haven for over six years.
Latterly, Karen joined the community vaccination team during the pandemic and was one of the first healthcare professionals to vaccinate NHS Lanarkshire staff.
Karen said: “The pandemic has been a difficult period. However, throughout my career, I have always been fortunate to be part of such lovely teams. Although the last team I worked with, I met hardly any of them in person – it was all online using Microsoft Teams. I wish this technology existed when I was the only nurse on Colonsay.”
Clearly Karen enjoyed working on the coast as she is going to spend her retirement by the sea in Girvan.
As well as spending time with her two sons and three grandchildren, Karen plans to enjoy taking walks along the beach and tending to her garden.
However, true to form, Karen wants to continue to use her vast clinical skills and experience and is hoping to volunteer with a dementia group.
Karen’s last manager in the NHS, Karen McLennan, NHS Lanarkshire public health nurse team leader, said: “This is a tremendous achievement. While I only had the privilege of working with Karen during the latter part of her career, her dedication and commitment to the NHS was obvious. She is a true professional who is committed to her patients and staff.
“While her departure is a huge loss to us, it is heartening to think that people who have dementia and their families will continue to benefit from her wealth of clinical knowledge and experience.
“We wish Karen a long, happy and well-deserved retirement.”
