Before he was an award-winning nurse, Kombe Mwarandu was working as a receptionist at his local GP surgery. He shares how achieving his Adult Nursing degree from The Open University in Scotland has enabled him to achieve his career dreams and give back to his community.
“Before joining The Open University I didn’t have a degree,” explains Kombe, who is originally from Kenya but lives in Girvan, Ayrshire. “One of my VISA conditions was to prove that I had integrated well into society, so I thought it would be a good idea to volunteer to help assimilate me into the community.”
Kombe began volunteering at his local General Practice and soon landed a reception and administrative role. With a passion to keep learning, he started in-house training and his ambition was quickly recognised by colleagues and patients alike who suggested he pursue a nursing career:
“I thought to go into nursing I’d have to give up my employment. I had family, I had other commitments and I felt that I couldn’t do that and go into full-time study,” he says.
“My employer said they would support me, and I went home that evening and chatted with my wife and she said she would support me too. So the journey of nursing with the OU started from there.”
The support to become a nurse
Kombe began studying Adult Nursing part-time with the OU in Scotland in 2015, balancing his studies with work and raising three young children.
“It was a long process, sometimes it was very hard, but the motivation and support from everybody around me made it possible.
“It’s very difficult to study and have a family life and a social life. It’s a very fine line to try and balance. It was hard but I think because of my family’s understanding from the word go that it was going to be tough, it prepared me and the family to deal with the challenges ahead.”
Kombe’s employer supported his journey every step of the way, supporting his practice-based learning and offering half a day each week to come into work and catch up on any assignments.
“The support was there from the OU as well. You had the module tutors and the practice tutors if there was something you weren’t sure about or if you needed help. I felt at ease to phone or email my tutors and they were very accessible. The flexibility of the course made things manageable too because if there was a tutorial it was in the evening and you didn’t need to go to a specific location. You could sit on your own couch and learn that way, which was really good.”
Inspired by everyday healthcare heroes
Kombe celebrates his qualification with his family
Though Kombe was inspired to get into nursing for many reasons, it was his own family’s experience of healthcare which continues to motivate him to this day:
“Before I started nursing my daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour. It was very trying times because up until then life was relatively well but then you get the diagnosis and feel like the whole world is collapsing in front of you.
“When we went for the initial appointment and got to meet everyone there, the nursing team, the surgeons, the way they handled the whole process from diagnosis to surgery and thereafter [was wonderful]. I looked back and I thought, in my day-to-day work, if I could try and make even one patient feel the way I felt through that process in terms of the care and support we received from the broader healthcare profession, I’d be really, really happy.
“You are faced with a really huge thing in front of you, but the healthcare professionals made things look manageable. So that’s one of the factors that made me go into nursing and it’s one of the things that makes me want to come into work every morning. I want to make sure that my patients feel the way I felt at that time.
“In doing my job, I just feel that I owe a lot to my community. Coming to work and providing care is a way of me paying back to the community for welcoming me very well and making me feel at home here. I feel the only thing I could do in return is to offer them the best care possible. So I’m paying back to the community for the generosity they showed me all these years.”
‘Studying has opened a lot of doors’
In 2018, Kombe’s hard work paid off when he graduated from the OU and began working as a Practice Nurse at the same GP surgery where his journey had first begun.
After practicing his secondary care skills at placements during his studies, Kombe also continues to pick up shifts at his local A&E department whenever he can, combining work at the Practice and on busy hospital wards.
“Having studied through The Open University has opened a lot of doors. If I hadn’t applied with the OU, I would still be the same person as before. But years have passed and now I can say that I’ve transitioned from my role as receptionist, to admin staff, to Healthcare Assistant and now to Practice Nurse. I can look back and say those years weren’t in vain. I have achieved something. Now I can also look ahead and think, ‘what else can I do?’ It’s fantastic.
“On top of that, once I graduated, I was nominated for a Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland Award, that was one of the proudest moments of my life. First was when I got married, when I had my children, when I qualified as a nurse and that was another. It was good to see all that hard work being recognised.
“Other doors will open in the future, as I’m thinking of doing a Master’s degree and hoping to do a PhD. These are things that have been made possible because I took the initiative to pursue my dream and my goals.
“Looking back, it has been tough, but it’s been worth it, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
‘You can achieve anything you set your mind to’
Kombe and his family show their pride
Before he enrolled with the OU, Kombe admits that his nursing dream may have seemed impossible. Now he’s doing a role he loves, he shares the following advice for anyone who might be on the fence about pursuing their goals:
“First and foremost, I would say if you’ve got any ambition or desire to achieve something, please do it! Studying will be hard, let’s not beat around the bush, but with the right support either from family, your employer, or even from friends, you can do it.
“If you’ve got the right support and you’re motivated in what you want to do then you can achieve anything you set your mind to.”
