This interview session on ‘INSPIRE’ means a whole lot to us at Care City because it is our first – the maiden edition, and we are starting with a very unique registered nurse, who works and lives in the United Kingdom.
Meet our maiden guest, Chidera Emmanuel Alajemba. I caught him on LinkedIn, and I did not stop chasing him until I finally secured his attention. His passion for the profession and his smile, which is one gift that he has, made me decide that he was our Nurse, and today, you get to meet him, you get to share in his story, you get to learn from him, and most importantly, his story gets to inspire you to do more.
Ladies and gentlemen, our guest for October, the maiden guest on INSPIRE; Chidera Emmanuel Alajemba, registered nurse and founder of Engage Hope Network.
Chidera Emmanuel Alajemba popularly known as “Jemba” started his nursing career in November 2016. He graduated from the School of Nursing University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu and a prospective student nurse of the University of Derby, United Kingdom. A member of the Royal College of Nursing. His career began with CPL medical Abuja, where he worked diligently as a Homecare nurse and brought his vast knowledge in managing the Chief Executive Officer.
Chidera also worked briefly as a community nurse volunteer for Chukuku Primary Health Care Centre, Abuja. He also worked as an Emergency Nurse for Patient First Clinic, Abuja. His nursing journey in Nigeria culminated in Eastern and Western Hospital, Abuja where he passionately discharged his duties before he migrated to the United Kingdom.
He joined the Nursing profession in the UK in December 2019 after successfully passing his OSCE exam and currently works as a Staff Nurse with The Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust. He works in the Endoscopy Unit of the trust where he is excelling professionally.
Chidera loves listening to the news, reading, traveling, and a badminton lover. Chidera is also the founder of Engage Hope Network which has a YouTube channel that spreads the inspirational words of Hope. He does this in his spare time. He is a motivator and highly charismatic. He is blessed with a beautiful smile.
I have always been one who inspires a lot of people be it as an individual or as a leader. I am a believer in the powers of hope and that is why I have always ensured that anyone who comes around me who feels down is strengthened by my positive words.
So, it happened that one of my friends who knows me for this advised me to start speaking around hope. I had to start off this network to inspire as many people as I can using the scriptures, life stories, and many more tools. It’s a mission in progress. Just started it off as a YouTube channel in May.
My objective ab initio was to go into the medical line. So, after I tried to go into medicine and it didn’t fall through I had to throw everything I had to study Nursing. I tried going through the University but it didn’t work out so I tried the nursing school and I got it.
Going into the health profession for me was to go and affect lives and not just for the tag of being a nurse but actually to serve humanity.
I work currently as a staff nurse within the Endoscopy unit of my hospital. It wasn’t deliberate as I am a general nurse. So I was offered the opportunity and given the room to learn in this clinical setting. And honestly, I don’t regret taking up this role. I am even considering studying further to major in this aspect of clinical nursing.
I will say categorically that I am enjoying every bit of the moment in nursing.
“Going into the health profession for me was to go and affect lives and not just for the tag of being a nurse but actually to serve humanity.”
Relocation to the United Kingdom for me was not because I don’t love my country. No! I relocated because we all want a better working condition and an opportunity to build capacity which in the short or long run we will channel back home into our beloved country.
My smile is just a natural thing. I got to know in 2015 through a Seminar that there is a gift of Smile. Before then I have been smiling but after that seminar, I considered it a gift from God to bless the lives of men. Guess what! Sometime in 2018, in my previous hospital, a Chinese patient had to leave his sickbed just to come and see me smile. He was following me around the clinic. I then knew this was a great gift. It has opened lots of doors for me and set me out anywhere I go.
I can’t say if I will come to the world again. I will choose to fulfill my purpose now than to think of what to do when I come here again which I am not sure of.
Yes! To bring my wealth of knowledge abroad to develop the country.
Life in the United Kingdom is interesting. In the beginning, it was challenging coming from an entirely different country where the practice of nursing was different. I had to adapt immediately. It wasn’t hard to adjust immediately. Kudos to the support put in place by my hospital. It went a long way to aid me.
The decision to migrate to the United Kingdom!
The Pandemic was really an eye-opener on how strong healthcare professionals can be. It took the world by surprise and before you knew it, it went into countries we see as world powers and overwhelmed them. It really caused lots of havoc considering the number of healthcare professionals that passed away. May their souls rest in peace. The world has to be more prepared for such emergencies in the future.
Know what you want. Yes! If you want to migrate work towards it! If you want to ascend the ladder of the nursing profession or any educational circle, go for it by drawing a plan. Don’t wait for things to happen, be the one to cause things to happen. I told myself after nursing school I want to migrate and I never knew how. I began to research and I saw this opportunity and the story is I am here. The same thing applies to you, know exactly what you want and throw everything at it.
A Subtle art of not giving a F*CK by Mark Mason. One must believe in the reality at hand before working out of it if unfavorable. We must not be in a hurry to shut ourselves away from some emotions like sadness, anger, or pain as they are a normal response to life which we all must pass through.
The world is a hard place that’s the reality and that can never change. There will always be a day of trouble for everyone whether great or small. A day that will be gloomy and dark. But I will want to tell you that you should look into that challenge and tell yourself you will overcome it.
Everything may be against you standing as an obstacle to you fulfilling your dreams. Still hang on and never give up! Finally, who you know in the day of trouble is the person that will save you. As a believer in God. He said in Psalm 50:15 “Call upon me in the day of trouble… I will deliver you” He knows there is a day of trouble, failure, sadness, pain, crying, loss. When our strength can’t carry us but Him alone. So Never give up! If you lose hope you lose everything. All will be well.
“I will say categorically that I am enjoying every bit of the moment in nursing.”
Wonderful isn’t it? This interview has inspired me, I don’t know about you, but as for me, I have taken for my self some very useful tips to help my journey in the nursing profession.
Our profession is one that needs a whole lot of grit to survive in it, and interactions like this one are a very rich source of energy for registered nurses, especially the young ones; those considering to pick up this burden and most importantly registered nurses in Africa.
I believe that you have been inspired to do more. If you have got a dream, don’t abandon it, wake it up, pursue it and don’t stop chasing it until it eventually catches you.
Like what Chidera said; “Don’t wait for things to happen, be the one to cause things to happen.” The best time to start pursuing your dreams is not tomorrow, it is no other time than now.
Do well to share this interview, let more registered nurses see it, let it inspire them to do more, to be more!
Stay with us, we will be interviewing another registered nurse next month, you don’t want to miss it, I know you don’t, so, to keep in touch, hit the subscribe button below, we love to keep in touch.
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