I trained in-hospital at Ipswich Hospital in 1987, straight out of school.

When I got my registration, I moved to Redcliffe and worked in the Paediatric Unit.

Wanting to I spread my wings, I took a position in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where I became the Nurse Unit Manager in a Paediatric Medical/Oncology Unit.

I had plenty of play money after finishing my contract, so I spent the next 18 months travelling to many countries and only stopped to work when I needed a little extra cash.

Returning to Australia I worked briefly at Redcliffe Hospital before going to Townsville and the Sunshine Coast and then landing back home in Metro North at Redcliffe Hospital in 2002.

In 2007, I migrated from Redcliffe to Caboolture to move into a home with a bigger backyard for my son who was 18 months old at the time.

He has just turned 18 and I’m still here.

I never planned to be a nurse as I used to pass out at the sight of blood.

My heart was set on set on being a teacher and, what do you know, I managed to come full circle.

When I first started at Caboolture, I spoke with Helen Timms about joining the Paediatric or Education teams but ended up backfilling Infection Control for three months.

That set the scene for my time at Caboolture, and I am still here 16 years later because of the many and varied opportunities I’ve had.

While most of my time at Caboolture Hospital has been as part of the Education team, of which I am now proud to be the Nursing Director, I have also worked in Safety and Quality, clinically on the Children’s Ward, in project roles for various Paediatric construction activities, and most recently in Emergency Management as the local lead in the CKW Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) during the COVID pandemic.

In the EOC, I worked with lots of great people, including those in the photos here, and many others.

Amongst all the difficult situations there were a few surprise highlights, such as scoping out a vaccination location on Moreton Island.

I have also been supported to complete my Masters, became a national instructor for Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS), presented at and attended many conferences often with Michelle Hutch including in Singapore, and have been able to publish my work.

They say variety is the spice of life and my experience has been that if you are looking for a new challenge, you can find it at Caboolture Hospital.

You will also find a fabulous team that I see go the extra mile every day to support their patients.

I am excited to be a part of the Executive team leading our wonderful team through the exciting years ahead.

Have you got a story to share?

Email ckw-engage@health.qld.gov.au.