80-year-old nurse still working 60-hours a week: ‘I have no plans to retire’
By James Gamble
Meet the great-grandmother who is still putting in 60-hour weeks, aged 80 – and has no plans to slow down.
Wound specialist Sylvie Hampton, who only began her nursing career in her 40s, still works gruelling 18-hour days – rarely stopping to take a day off.
The octogenarian says she can still work as hard as any 20-year-old in her eighth decade and is not at all ashamed of her age.
However, Hampton, from Hailsham in East Sussex, says she sympathises with older workers opting to 'botox' their CVs to obscure their age.
The great-grandmother admitted she does sometimes worry about the fact that she completed her last degree nearly 25 years ago, and whether employers take this into account.
But, ultimately, Hampton says she's judged on her results, the success of which saw her named as one of the top 10 nurses in the world at the 2024 Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award – dubbed the Nobel Prize of nursing.
"I don't take days off," tissue viability nurse consultant Hampton said.
"I will work an 18-hour day sometimes. If I go to Ireland or up North, it all adds up to around 60 or 60 hours a week.
"I feel as good as I did at 30. I can still work as hard as any 20-year-old.
"I'm really enjoying it and I have no plans to retire. If you enjoy what you do, it's not difficult."
However, Hampton says she's not surprised some elderly workers are doctoring their CVs to obscure their ages.
"I understand people 'botoxing' their CVs," she admitted. "People really do judge you for your age, but I am not ashamed of my age.
"I tell anyone who asks – though I don't think I behave my age.
"But I understand why someone wouldn't put their age down on their CV.
"I have degrees, but I did them a long time ago and that does worry me a bit.
"My latest degree is from 2002. But I've never had a problem with it.
"I know wound care so well. People don't judge me on my qualifications, but on my results.
"I have a lot of success in my work because nurses in the NHS aren't given the time, money or equipment they need.
"They have to get in, see the patient and get out, whereas I can give patients whatever they need.
"NHS nurses don't have the opportunity to do that.
"I was 41 when I started nursing. I always wanted to be a nurse from the age of five, when a nurse chased me around a table and played with me.
"I did nights as a healthcare assistant for 13 years and, when my kids grew up, I did my training and never regretted a minute of it."
Hampton has had a huge impact in the field of wound care, after founding a service quickly recognised as exemplary by the NHS.
She also opened a wound healing centre that gained international recognition after healing wounds patients had carried for nearly 70 years within weeks.
These achievements led to her beating nearly 80,000 nominees from across the world to reach the top ten in 2024's Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award.
Though she didn't win, Hampton was flown out to Bengaluru in India for the ceremony and is immensely proud of her achievement.
"To be able to say, 'I was in the top 10 nurses in the world' is amazing," she continued.
"I am very proud of that and I do use it when I want to."
Hampton cares for private patients and is currently looking for ways to offer virtual clinics using AI glasses, which would make treatment more affordable.
But she revealed that gender bias is present in the healthcare industry, saying: "Gender does still have a lot to play.
"You are a nurse, a woman and older. GPs are not going to take as much notice as they would a male paramedic."
To get around this, Hampton says she now teams up with male paramedics, getting them to report patients' issues to GPs.
Despite her love for nursing, Hampton says the issues in the NHS mean the pleasure of giving care is 'gone'.
"When I came into nursing, I absolutely loved working in the NHS," she said.
"But I wouldn't do it now. All of that pleasure of giving care is gone.
"I think nurses generally are badly treated. They deserve more recognition.
"They're not given the equipment, time, protection, education… And that's very sad.
"Nurses have really got it hard at the moment, but something like this [award] brings nurses to the forefront.
"We probably have a workforce of about 30 percent [of that which is needed].
"There should be incentives for people to get into nursing. Nurses need to be better cared for.
"I love being a nurse. I have a real passion for wound healing that has never left me.
"I adore everything I do and that's why I'm still working at my age."
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