It takes a special kind of person to become a nurse and no department puts their skills to the test more than intensive care.

Nurses who work in the unit are given special training to operate the high technology equipment and be able to cope with the demands that the unit places on them.

Tina Foote, who has worked in intensive care for two years, did not know what she wanted to do when she left school after taking A levels.

She was offered a job as an auxiliary nurse in Princess Margaret Hospital orthopaedic department.

"It was alright but I did not find it challenging enough. And then someone suggested that I should train to become a registered nurse and I thought it would be a good idea."

Tina followed a three-year nursing diploma course run by the University of the West of England, but based at PMH.

She added: "The course was quite hard work, especially during the last year where I was working four days a week as well as studying.

"When I finished I was offered a rotational post at the hospital, which meant that I had the chance to work in lots of different areas of the hospital, including the intensive care department."

She relished the numerous challenges she was faced with in intensive care and she decided to specialise in the field.

She said: "Intensive care is quite scary, especially as a newly qualified nurse, but the good thing about working there is that there are always senior staff who can give you the best training. It is either something you want to do or not.

"I think the best thing about working in this department is that you never know what you are going to find from day to day.

"You have to be able to deal with a wide range of specialities we get everything through the door."

Dealing with patients is just one aspect of being a nurse. It is also important to look after the needs of a patient's relatives, especially in intensive care, where visitors to the five-bed unit are often very emotional.

"Obviously, because of the nature of the unit, the people in here are often very ill.

"Unlike general wards where you will have one nurse assigned to as many as twelve patients, in ICU it is one nurse to one patient.

"I like that aspect of the unit because you have the time to look after a patient and help their family understand what is happening each step of the way.

"It is why I became a nurse, to help care for people. It is more than just a job.

"If I wanted to earn more money I could stack shelves in a warehouse. I think that most nurses come into the profession because they want to help people."

Princess Margaret Hospital is looking to boost the number of nurses on its books.

There are presently 70 nursing vacancies which urgently need to be filled.

Anyone interested in training to be a nurse or following the return to nursing course can contact Liz Jaffray on 01793 426505.