From London to Ballarat, Narelle has found her home with St John of God Health Care

7 Oct 2022

What’s your position?

My name’s Narelle, and I’m a Clinical Nurse Specialist in intensive care and critical care (ICU/CCU).

How long have you worked at St John of God Ballarat Hospital?

I have been here 10 years in April.

Why were you interested in working with us?

After working 5 years in London, I wanted to come back to Australia and work in a large regional hospital. St John of God Ballarat Hospital was just the spot for me.

What do you enjoy most about working with us?

I like the challenge and the satisfaction of looking after patients in our seven bed ICU/CCU unit. I like meeting their clinical needs, and also helping support our patients and their families emotionally.

What opportunities have you received while working with us?

We’ve had lots of study days, both within St John of God Ballarat Hospital and interstate. We do advanced life support training, and lots of post graduate study opportunities as well.

What do you love about living in Ballarat?

I love living in a large city kind of feel with a relaxed nature kind of aspect to it. Ballarat’s very foodie, and arty, and has lots of schools. I also enjoy walking around Lake Wendouree. It’s also very close to Melbourne and the beaches.

What do you want other people to know about working with St John of God Health Care?

I want them to know that you get to work in a really great team environment with lots of different areas (such as allied health etc.). Everyone shares the same core values of St John of God Health Care, and there are lots of opportunities coming up as Ballarat expands further and further.

Do you and your team socialist outside of work?

In ICU we have an ICU social club, we also go out for regular dinners and drinks. Sometimes we have activities where you go to a painting restaurant (Pinto & Picasso), and we have great Christmas parties.

What does St John of God Health Care do to make you feel cared about in the workplace?

I think it’s mainly the great team environment that we work in; we support each other. Also St John of God Health Care overall is quite supportive, even if you injure yourself at work, they take care of you and get you back to work as soon as you can.