Bartosz Goska – Building a Career in Care
From GP placements to sharing learning with colleagues, Bartosz reflects on how his apprenticeship is shaping his future in nursing and strengthening care for residents.
When we first shared Bartosz’s story, he was just beginning his Nursing Associate apprenticeship. Nearly a year on, he has completed his first external placement in a GP practice and is already seeing the impact of the programme on his confidence, knowledge and day-to-day work in social care.
How are you finding the apprenticeship now that you’re well into the programme?
“I think I’ve adjusted quite well. I was pretty worried when I first started, especially about going back to studying when I hadn’t been there for a while.
But I’ve had a lot of support from everybody, the university, Care City and my employer Lodge Group Care’s Strathfield Gardens, a residential care home for adults with learning disabilities . Any questions I had, I knew who I could go to. I didn’t feel silly asking anything, and everything has been going well.”
Do you feel more confident now?
“Yes, definitely. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge through university and my recent placement. Before, at work, we would check things like blood pressure, pulse and oxygen levels, and I knew what numbers were worrying because we had a chart.
But now I understand more about what could be causing those readings, what they could lead to, and what steps might be best to take.
That’s especially important when supporting people with learning disabilities, because they might not understand or be able to explain how they are feeling. Being aware of what the signs mean is really important.”
Tell us about your GP placement. What was it like?
“My placement was at Newbury Park Health Centre in Redbridge. I really enjoyed the whole thing from beginning to end.
In a care home, you often work with the same people every day. In a GP practice, every person who comes in is different. Everyone has different problems and different things to look out for.
I got to do lots of new things I hadn’t done before, including giving injections for immunisations, B12 injections, preparing medication in syringes, taking blood pressure, and doing ECGs.”
Who did you work alongside during the placement?
The practice was quite big, with around 18,000 patients. I worked with and shadowed nurses, doctors, pharmacists and a physiotherapist.
It was really interesting seeing how decisions are made, especially around medication. For example, why one person might be prescribed something and another person with the same condition might not be, depending on different factors.”
Was there anything that surprised you?
“It wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it was very different from what I’m used to. It was very fast-paced compared to a care home.
It kept me on my toes and meant I was constantly having to remember and learn new things. It was a bit of a shock at first, but it was a welcome change.”
How has the placement changed the way you work at Strathfield Gardens?
“It has helped me understand GP appointments a lot more, and what sorts of things people might go to a GP for.
My understanding of things like vital signs, blood pressure, medication, diabetes has grown a lot. I can now connect what I’ve learned at university with what I saw in the GP practice, and then bring that back into my work.”
“It has been wonderful to see Bartosz’s confidence and clinical knowledge grow throughout his placement. He is developing a much stronger understanding of holistic care and is increasingly able to recognise and respond to the more complex health needs of the residents he supports.
Feedback from his manager at Strathfield Gardens has highlighted the real difference this is already making in practice, particularly in how Bartosz understands the whole person, not just individual tasks or conditions. He has embraced every opportunity to learn and is developing into a thoughtful, compassionate and clinically aware practitioner.”
Joanna Howgate, General Practice Nurse, Granville Medical Centre
Have you been able to share that learning with your colleagues?
“Yes. I did a presentation for my colleagues about blood pressure, pulse and oxygen levels, based on what I had learned at university.
We use pulse oximeters at Strathfield Gardens, and we have a resident who sometimes has a low pulse rate. I shared information about what to look out for, including early warning signs and how to spot them in someone who is non-verbal.
I also showed colleagues how to check a pulse manually, especially if there are concerns that it might be low or irregular.”
Has the placement helped you understand how health and social care work together?
“Yes, definitely. It expanded my understanding greatly.
I was lucky enough to go on home visits for a day, which meant I could see not only the GP practice environment, but also how people are supported in their own homes or in care homes.
It really broadened my understanding of how all the different systems work together.”
Do you feel more confident speaking to health professionals now?
“Yes, definitely. I don’t think it can be understated how much of a difference that has made.
It has been very eye-opening. I feel much more confident with medical terms, knowing what might need a GP appointment, and recognising when alarm bells might be raised.
Overall, I would be infinitely more confident talking to a GP or nurse now, whether for myself or for a service user.”
What has helped you succeed on the apprenticeship so far?
“The support has been there at every step. It was always explained to me who I could go to for help, whether that was revising for exams, writing assessments or getting support from the university library team.
There have been lots of options, whether people prefer support in person or online. Having that support throughout every stage has been very helpful.”
Has the apprenticeship changed how you see yourself and your career?
“Yes, definitely. It has made me realise how much I enjoy parts of healthcare that I had never really considered before.
At university we are studying pharmacology at the moment, learning how drugs work on the body, how different medications affect different parts of the brain and body, and how they are absorbed. I would never have thought I’d be interested in that before, but I really am.
It has given me a drive for knowledge. I keep thinking, if I enjoy this so much, what else might I enjoy that I haven’t discovered yet?”
Has it strengthened your ambition to become a registered nurse?
“Yes. The ambition is even stronger than when I started.
I was ambitious when I began the course, and now that I’m nearly a year in, that hasn’t changed at all.”
What are you looking forward to next?
“I’m really looking forward to the different placements. My next one will be in a care home for elderly patients, which is similar to what I do now but also very different.
After that, I think I’ll have a hospital placement, which will be really exciting. I’m looking forward to the new experiences and all the knowledge I’ll gain from them.”
What would you say to someone in social care thinking about an apprenticeship?
“I only have positive things to say. I would definitely encourage people to try something like this.
It has given me knowledge I didn’t even know I needed, and it has changed my view on almost everything relating to care; how best to do my role, and how to make sure the people we support are living in the best conditions possible.”
How would you describe the apprenticeship in a few words?
“Very informative. There is so much knowledge I’ve gained, and it’s useful not just in my work but in everyday life too. Having that knowledge and awareness has really helped.”
Final reflection
For Bartosz, the Nursing Associate apprenticeship is already doing exactly what it set out to do: opening up a clear career pathway while strengthening care in the place where he already works.
His GP placement has helped him build clinical confidence, understand how primary care and social care connect, and bring new knowledge back to his colleagues and residents at Strathfield Gardens.
Nearly a year into the programme, his enthusiasm has only grown.
“I’m really enjoying it. It’s been a blast, really, throughout every single aspect of it.”
