AN award-winning nurse went back to basics in a bid to raise funds for terminally-ill patients.

Dawn Dyne, from Richmond, is the reigning Marie Curie Nurse of the Year and cares for the desperately-ill in their own homes so they can spend their final days surrounded by the people that matter to them most.

She has been a nurse for 28 years and has worked all over the world - but she went back to her first job as part of the charity's fundraising initiative Back to the Shop Floor.

She changed sheets, cleaned the bedpans and urinals, and pushed the tea and biscuits trolley round the wards at the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton.

"My first job was on a medical ward carrying out the temperature, pulse and respirations round," said Mrs Dyne, 47.

"That was all we were allowed to do, but I didn't find it frustrating because it gave you the chance to talk to the patients.

"I enjoyed learning the basic, essential skills such as bed-bathing someone and washing their hair in bed."

Dawn took her first steps into nursing in 1979 when she joined the Army. She joined Marie Curie Cancer Care in 2003.

Back to the Shop Floor is sponsored by York-based homebuilder Persimmon Homes. To find out more and to register, call 08700-340-040 or visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/ backtotheshopfloor