Nurses who started as teens still working together

Anne Pomeroy and Paula Debling said the time had gone by "in a flash"

Two nurses who began their training side-by-side as 18-year-olds have celebrated still working together four decades on.

Anne Pomeroy and Paula Debling started their careers as student nurses at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital in the 1980s and have worked at the site ever since.

Ms Pomeroy is an interventional radiology theatre sister, while Ms Debling is home dialysis manager for the renal team which covers the whole of Kent.

"The technology changes and the environment evolves, but the patient is always at the heart of why we go to work every day," said Ms Pomeroy, who described 40 years as having "gone by in a flash".

Charged with supporting those undergoing procedures in the operating theatre, she added that both women had seen lots of changes in medicine over the years.

"There have been so many advances, all of which mean we can get our patients home more quickly, which is better for their recovery.

"And, because it's always developing, every day is different and there is always something new to learn," said Ms Pomeroy.

"A lot of our former colleagues have since left nursing, but I still love it."

Anne Pomeroy and Paula Debling in the early days of their careers

Ms Debling, whose work allows increasing numbers of those with kidney failure to receive treatment at home, remembered what it was like when she and Ms Pomeroy were starting out.

"Back then the uniform included paper hats and cloaks - we certainly looked the part walking up from the nurses' accommodation in Ethelbert Road," she said.

"And when you heard matron's shoes clip-clopping down the corridor you almost stood to attention.

"They were role models – you never wanted to disappoint them and they had very high expectations."

Ms Debling added that, while nursing remains challenging, it is also just as rewarding.

"And being able to care for people is the best part of the job and why I am still here," she said.