Marykutty Joykutty enters the room, sparkling with energy.
The Aberdeen Royal Infirmary senior staff nurse is excited because she’s here to talk about her Daisy Award from NHS Grampian in recognition of outstanding service to patients.
But as she launches into a story about her son Harin — at speed, with gusto — I get the feeling she’s like this all the time.
“My son just became a doctor,” she says, her eyes beaming. “He graduated the other day, on Saturday!”
She goes on, with relish, and before long I’ve got the whole family story.
It turns out Marykutty’s other son is also a doctor.
Melvin, 28, graduated from Aberdeen University and is a registrar in general surgery in Dundee. Meanwhile, Marykutty’s husband is a lecturer at the dental college in Dundee.
When I ask Marykutty if she had anything to do with both her sons becoming doctors, she shakes her head.
“Oh, no,” she says. “It’s their passion.”
But passion, it turns out, runs in the family.
Excerpt from one of Marykutty’s Daisy Award nominations
“I am writing this from my bed in ward 401 having undergone an invasive angiogram. Senior staff nurse Marykutty Joykutty has been taking care of me all day, and in charge of a ward short-staffed, while mentoring a new student nurse…. Marykutty is an exceptional nurse and is so good natured despite the pressure on her.”
Marykutty, 63, is the first NHS Grampian nurse to receive five Daisy Award nominations from her patients.
This year, Grampian became the only NHS trust in Scotland to be a part of the international Daisy Award programme, which recognises the clinical skills and compassion nurses and midwives provide.
Patients can nominate a nurse or midwife that they think went above and beyond in their care. As in the excerpt above, Marykutty’s nominations highlighted the senior staff nurse’s grace under fire.
“The busier the day the happier I’ll be,” she says. “I forget even to eat or drink but I have more energy. It’s my passion nursing and I love it.”
She’s the nurse that always stays late when needed, the one patients remember when they go back home. She’s also the one asked to mentor the trainees to instill some of her fire in them.
“I want them to have a passion for nursing,” she says of those under her wing. “It’s not a job, I always tell them that.”
The heart and soul of the NHS
But while Marykutty represents the best of the NHS, she also embodies another aspect of the service — the one-sixth of staff that were born outside the UK.
The story of how Marykutty came to spend almost two decades working in the wards of ARI is also the story of the modern NHS.
The journey from her home in Kerala, India to the Middle East and then to the Granite City is just one of the myriad ways people end up caring for Britain’s sick and needy.
Meanwhile, it is a story that highlights just how much people such as her contribute to the heart and soul of our health service.
From Oman to a freezing Aberdeen
Marykutty was working for the Ministry of Health in Oman when she heard there was an international recruitment exam taking place in nearby Dubai.
She had already worked in India and Saudia Arabia, so when she found out they were looking for nurses to work at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, she saw it as an opportunity.
She didn’t know much about Aberdeen but her grandfather had told her about the UK.
He had studied law in Chennai alongside British students and “had a really good impression about Britain”, Marykutty says.
In Dubai, Marykutty aced the exam and was selected to enter the cardiology department, her preferred option. She spent the next few days furiously Googling Aberdeen to get an idea of what she was in for.
“One of the best university hospitals and a beautiful city,” she says, summing up her main takeaways.
When in 2004 she arrived for her three-month trial, however — in darkest, deepest February — she encountered a bone-chilling freeze.
“It was minus eight degrees,” she recalls with a laugh. “But in Oman I had bought three layers and a big long jacket as well, so I didn’t feel it.
Some of the other international recruits were not as well prepared. “They were being fashionable,” Marykutty says. “They were wearing T shirts and things like that.”
A lifelong commitment to education
For those first three months, Marykutty lived in student accommodation on King Street.
Her family, which by then included Melvin and Harin, were back in Oman. But once she passed her trial she quickly reunited the family in Aberdeen.
Through work, she trained in cardiology at Robert Gordon University, eventually sitting a pre-exam and then a main exam. After passing that, she went back for more training, this time in learning and mentoring.
It wasn’t a requirement, but for Marykutty, education is key.
“I really love studying,” she says. “I love learning languages, and there are so many [medical] conferences in Edinburgh and Glasgow to go to.”
Marykutty’s background is cardiology but her knowledge has mushroomed over the years.
She lists an exhaustive range of specialisations and techniques such as cardiothoracic bypasses and cardiac stents, all of which go over my head.
“I love it,” she continues. “I can take blood and send to the lab, I can crossmatch and give blood transfusions. On the occasions when doctors are not available, somebody has to say yes.”
Proud of a life built in Aberdeen
Two decades in to her career at ARI and she is still learning.
There are the conferences she goes to as well as online courses to keep her skills fresh. These days, many of the courses are about teaching — Marykutty wants to pass on her knowledge to the next generation.
But it’s not just knowledge she shares.
“They should have sympathy and empathy towards the people they are caring for,” she says of her staff. “I teach them to not get annoyed or show concern to people because their condition can become worse.”
Meanwhile, she is proud of the life she has built with her family in Aberdeen. She talks about how her sons — who grew up in the city and attended Aberdeen Grammar — don’t feel the cold like she does.
“They say to me, ‘mum, it’s not cold,’ that sort of thing,” Marykutty laughs.
In fact, the only thing she’s waiting for now is grandchildren. Not to put any pressure on Melvin and Harin, of course.
“No grandchildren yet,” she says, smiling. “But I’m eagerly awaiting them.”
To nominate a nurse or midwife for a Daisy Award, click here. To read about the four nurses given Daisy Awards for saving the life of a cyclist on the A93, click here.
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