Bass Coast Health was pleased to celebrate the vital role Nurses play in delivering quality care to the people of Bass Coast and South Gippsland on International Nurses’ Day, 12 May.
Nurses have been working long, hard shifts during the past two years of the COVID pandemic and are continuing to go above and beyond every day with health services busier than ever.
Nurses serve Bass Coast Health in a variety of roles: in Acute and Sub-Acute wards, in the Emergency Department and Urgent Care Centre, in the Operating Theatre, through Community Nursing, Midwifery, as Maternal and Child Health Nurses and as Clinical Nurse Consultants in a variety of specialities, such as Cardiology and Diabetes.
BCH CEO Jan Child said Nurses are special people.
“Nurses have challenging yet rewarding roles, and they nurse because they genuinely want to make a difference to people’s lives, in compassionate and caring ways. It is a privilege to support people when they are in crisis, or in poor health, and it is an awesome privilege to support people through momentous times of birth and death,” she said.
“While their everyday work is admirable enough, the way they have stepped up during the COVID pandemic to the extra demands, and additional workload, has been nothing short of remarkable.
“We were pleased to acknowledge the valued role each and every one of our valued Nurses played on International Nurses’ Day.”
Registered Nurse Randy Thompson is the Associate Nurse Unit Manager of our Acute Ward at Wonthaggi Hospital.
“As a nurse, I like the lifelong relationships you develop with your co-workers. They become family,” she said.
Registered Nurse Liam Kennedy also works on the Acute Ward.
“It’s a different day of work every day here and I like talking to new patients,” he said.
Clare Andolfatto is a new Associate Nurse Unit Manager of our Sub-Acute Ward at Wonthaggi Hospital.
“The teamwork of the nursing team on the Sub-Acute Ward is a huge positive to working at BCH. Friendships are wonderful and we all strive for the best outcome for our patients,” she said.
“Nursing is very versatile and job availability is high. I've been able to nurse in many different areas in my 20 years of nursing and travel overseas and nurse in Scotland during my travels. It's a wonderful career.”
Abbey Rimkevicus is a Graduate Nurse in the Emergency Department at Wonthaggi Hospital.
“I love working here at BCH as everyone is so welcoming and helpful, and being a graduate Registered Nurse, that has made my transition from a student to a registered nurse so much easier,” she said.
“We are a team at BCH and everyone supports each other across the multidisciplinary team.”
Abbey recommended nursing as a “rewarding” career.
“You go to work every day and you help people. When people go to hospital it is often scary for them, particularly in ED and people are vulnerable,” she said.
“Being able to provide help and support to people and see improvements in them is really amazing. Nursing is hard work but it is a very rewarding career.”
Nursing offers a satisfying and diverse career path with many opportunities to learn and develop. If you would like to work as a Nurse with Bass Coast Health, please lodge an expression of interest via our recruitment website: https://basscoasthealth.mercury.com.au and go to “Any Clinical Role”.