I became a nurse after my husband died from Covid – now I'm determined to get a job

A woman who trained to become a nurse because she was so impressed with the care given to her husband when he died from Covid has graduated and said she "won't give up" in her search for a job.

Rachel Ohene-Adjei's husband, Eric, died in April 2021 after seven weeks in intensive care at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff.

Due to the treatment he received, Rachel began studying for a GCSE in maths and English, leading to an access course in nursing, then a university nursing degree which she graduated from last week.

Rachel, 44, who is graduating at a time of fewer vacancies in the profession, said she was determined to find a job.

Last month the NHS workforce organisation Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) confirmed that almost 400 nursing and midwifery graduates remained without NHS positions after the first round of job matching.

Rachel, from Cardiff, said she was unsuccessful during the first round of applications, but was hopeful in the second, having applied for three new positions.

"I won't give up. I have to be a nurse. I've worked too hard to show my children that anything's possible. So, I will get a job," she said.

Her journey to becoming a nurse began in 2003 when she met Eric in a "love at first sight moment" in a bar. The couple married four years later, having three children together.

Rachel said she "didn't enjoy learning in school", leaving without passing GCSE maths and English, but said Eric helped build up her confidence.

"My husband was always such a supportive, positive person," she said.

Eric tested positive for Covid in February 2021 and was admitted to UHW but died a few months later.

"Seeing that care that he was given just put something in my head that I just needed to help and care for people," she said.

After his funeral she applied to do the GCSEs before enrolling on a nursing course and then her nursing university degree.

Rachel admitted it had sometimes been difficult to juggle her studies with her parenting commitments, including pulling some "all nighters" to study.

"[My children] are active so I'd have to come home, take them to their football or rugby or dance, or to their friends' house because they're really social – I had to really set myself targets at times when I could and couldn't do things. And it was a lot," she said.

"I just felt like, am I making a mistake? I'm just taking so much time away from my family to do this, is it worth it?"

She said it was also challenging because she was "never very good in school", but was determined to keep going, with the help of her family and friends.

Part of her determination was also to prove to her children she could do it.

"They knew I was doing it to show them that it doesn't matter what happens in life, or how old you are. If you want to do something and you put your mind to it, then you can do it."

Speaking to the BBC at the graduation ceremony, the couple's 13-year-old daughter, Ebony, said she was "very proud" of her mum "for everything she's gone through".

"Obviously with my dad dying, it's been so hard for her. And I've tried to help her through it a lot."

Rachel said at the graduation ceremony it didn't "feel real".

"I can't believe I've done it. I've got this one friend who always said you should be a nurse. And I'm like, I can't. I'm not clever enough. And… I've done it."

Asked what Eric would make of her graduating, she said: "He would just be immensely proud, he always was."