Liz Friswell is a skilled and caring clinician, and an integral member of the busy Emergency Department team at Bass Coast Health’s Wonthaggi Hospital.
She’s also a Clinical Nurse Educator, teaching nurses the latest in Emergency Nursing techniques, and helping them to practise their resuscitation and other emergency skills to help them to provide best practice care during an emergency.
Let’s chat with Liz about her work and what it takes to perform this vital role for our community.
What can a shift involve for you?
“Every day is different; looking after new babies through to the elderly. We never know what will come through the doors.”
How do you manage the variety of conditions you encounter?
“Through experience and team-work. We communicate with each other, ask for help and use many resources available to us to care for the many varied presentations we see.”
How do you juggle priorities in the Emergency Department?
“We use the Australasian Triage Scale. This tool allows us to quickly assess why each person has presented based on their clinical presentation. Our senior nurses are at triage and their experience allows them to assess clinical urgency.”
How do you manage the stress involved with the role?
“This is different for everyone. It is a very fast-paced job and it can feel overwhelming at times. It is important to be able to go home and not think about work.
“In the Emergency Department, we have a big focus on staff health and wellbeing. We debrief with each other, take time off regularly and reinforce that nursing is a 24-hour job and we work to together as a team to care for our patients and families.”
What do you enjoy about your role?
“That it is always different and challenging. We can make a real difference to our patients and their families.”
What type of personality is suited to work as an Emergency Department Nurse?
“We all have different personalities in the Emergency Department. But we have to work fast and keep moving as it can be very busy. You need to be able to think critically and make decisions quickly.”
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
“Emergency nursing is very challenging and it is not for everyone but it is also very rewarding and I love it.”
To learn more about career opportunities at Bass Coast Health, go to: basscoasthealth.org.au/careers