A former NHS nurse has revealed that she left her job due to the impacts of stress from working on wards – and has instead taken up something a more unconventional.
Lydia Welsh, 29, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, graduated from the University of Southampton in 2014 with a degree in nursing and spent one year working on an NHS ward.
However, Lydia’s dreams of having a career in nursing were soon shattered after she realised the workload was too much for her to bear.
The 29-year-old suffered from anxiety and nightmares and often cried before her shifts, saying nursing left her ‘terrified’.
So, she has now become a full-time princess, launching a business that hosts children’s parties – which she says is a necessary change of pace.
While nursing, Lydia recalls moments of high stress that caused her to panic.
‘I was on a 12-hour nightshift sleep deprived and was only just flipped from day shifts when I was sent without warning to work on a different ward I hadn’t been trained on,’ Lydia told Jam Press.
‘This left me in a situation where I didn’t know anything about the ward speciality, drugs being administered or even what key opened what.
‘On that same shift I was responsible for the wellbeing of 15 very unwell patients, working alongside a team who were bank and agency staff so also totally new to the ward.
‘The feeling that you cannot provide the standard of care that you want to, due to circumstances outside of your control, is really demoralising and highly stressful.
‘No one becomes a nurse to provide substandard care. All you can do is your best and your best may not be enough.
‘Truthfully, the year of nursing left me terrified. I suffered from anxiety, had regular nightmares and was often crying before shifts as I just felt I couldn’t face it.’
Lydia says the emotional and physical exhaustion of the job spilt into her daily life, and she knew she couldn’t continue working in nursing for much longer.
‘I went into nursing with every will in the world to remain in the healthcare profession, with an ambition to work my way up into healthcare commissioning and make a meaningful difference,’ she says.
‘Total emotional and physical exhaustion, no doubt caused by the toll anxiety and stress takes on you and not just in the hours you’re working, meant I couldn’t continue.
‘It is such a challenging job on so many levels.
‘I have so much respect for my colleagues who are on the frontline but ultimately, I got to a point where I knew I had to leave and find something that brought more light than dark into my life.’
Her new business venture began after a friend asked her to dress up like a princess to entertain children at a village fête as a favour.
After posting photos of the event online, Lydia received several messages from parents asking if she offered the service – and the 29-year-old was overjoyed.
She started to host more princess parties and over the following months ended up earning more than she did as a nurse.
Lydia fell in love with her side job and realised it was finally time to leave nursing to pursue her passion.
She launched her business, Snow Princess Parties, in early 2016.
Because of the high demand for her services, Lydia realised she needed to hire a team and established a franchise model in 2019.
She now has six franchise locations across the south of the UK, delivering over 50 parties a month to hundreds of children.
‘I am my own boss, I choose when I work, I have the power to change and improve systems, policies and procedures in a way I never could as a nurse,’ says Lydia.
‘My income is directly proportional with the time and energy I put in and I do feel financially rewarded by my work, rather than just having to give so much time and energy with little financial incentive as so many nurses do.
‘Whilst hosting a children’s party requires a level of responsibility, I’m grateful not to have someone’s life in my hands day in day out. That definitely helps reduce general feelings of stress and anxiety.’
Lydia says interacting with the children at the parties fills the hole that nursing left.
‘People always ask me if I miss nursing, and if I didn’t have all of the heart-warming human interaction from being a children’s entertainer then I think I would miss it in a way,’ she says.
‘The reaction from the children sometimes makes me forget that I’m not actually a magical princess who lives in a castle!’
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