Sarah, 26, is a senior staff nurse at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) for Children. She lives with boyfriend Steve, a retail auditor, in East Dulwich, London

My job is complex, fast paced and no two days are the same – I look after children who need neurosurgery to relieve seizures caused by epilepsy, newborns who have suffered a bleed on the brain due to a traumatic birth, or patients with congenital conditions.

If I’m on a day shift, I get up at 5.30am, which is so early I can’t face food so I just shower, get dressed and leave the house at 6.15am to catch the bus and train to the hospital in London’s Holborn. My first stop is Starbucks – I’ve been going there for my latte before every shift for the last five years. When I arrive, I change into my uniform of navy blue trousers and a royal blue tunic. Working here is tough on the feet as I’m standing for 12 hours a day, so I wear Shape-ups by Skechers shoes – if I’m walking all day I may as well try to tone my bum!

I get straight onto the ward at 7.10am to chat with my patients’ families. I’m usually the nurse in charge, which means I’m responsible for five other nurses, three students, a paediatric doctor, and 12 patients, plus I work alongside five consultants. At 7.45am, the night staff brief us on each patient’s condition then I have a more in-depth handover for patients that I’m specifically allocated. Next, I do anything from arranging discharges to finding beds for emergency admissions. I’ve been taking charge of the ward for two and a half years and I’ve never had to turn a patient away because we don’t have a bed.

Sarah Pocock, neurosurgical nurse