Where Am I now?

 After 6 years as a hospital based specialty nurse, I took a break in 2006 to do a post graduate degree in Radio and Television production and presentation (WAAPA). After this I worked for 3 years as a radio producer and presenter for various radio stations in WA.  Now, I find myself needing more income to support my lifestyle .. as well as wanting  less stress .. so my decision was to  return to nursing. I quite frankly was over going back to nursing in the hospital based system. I found it rote and lacking in personal  involvement  (which was the initial draw card for getting into nursing in the first place!).  General practice nursing looked inviting (with its amenable hours) and with the help of the Osborne GP Network  I got started  with a  short Introduction to Practice Nursing course. I also joined the West Australian Practice Nurse Association (WAPNA), but more about them later.

The first thing I did was to obtain my Immunisation Competence Certificate, learning about vaccination, both children and adults, as this is a large part of the profession. I did my CPR certificate and started applying for work. Luckily, there was a job going at a surgery not far from home that was looking for a procedures nurse. With my background in Interventional Radiology, this was an easy introduction . Whilst on the job, my colleague was a practice nurse of some 40 years, Jan. This wonderful lady taught me how to be the best Practice nurse I could be. I didn’t realise at the time that she was the President of WAPNA! What a gentle and lovely person Jan is! She has my total respect and gratitude for imparting invaluable knowledge, some of which I hope to pass on here.

Work soon dried up at that workplace and I was on the lookout for another. This was not hard to find and I became a practice nurse in a very disorganised practice just 4 minutes from home. Although disorganised, I loved the work!  Our patients were mostly new migrants or refugees, often with no English language.  We did lots of travel medicine and circumcisions! The practice manager  was  a sweet lady, Andrea, who herself was learning the ropes in that role.  Together with a couple of other nurses working part time, we somehow bungled our way through the day to make our patients’ lives better. There were some things going on there that didn’t feel right to me..and eventually, with no hard feelings,  I  left (along with another nurse) as I  didn’t want to compromise my  nursing practice.

Then I found the marvellous place I’m in today. Seven minutes from home, great people, professional all the way, it fits just like a glove.

So after one year as a Practice Nurse, I’m beginning to feel like I have learnt a thing or two!