Moments like this

10 May 2023

Kim said she became a nurse as she wanted a career that would be challenging, interesting and make a difference in people’s lives. 

“I enjoy the daily conversations with my patients and the relationships we form during their time of care with us,” Kim said.

“Our elderly patients have so much wisdom to impart. It is truly a pleasure caring for them.” 

Kim said she enjoyed working at St John of God Health Care, from her time on wards and more recently as a community nurse, where she has come up against misconceptions. 

“Some misconceptions I’ve discovered along my journey as a community nurse is that some people think community nursing is lower down the list compared to acute nursing or that it is one step away from retiring,” she said. 

But for Kim it is as equally important as any nursing role, and it is certain moments that remind her why she became a nurse in the first place. 

“I was at the shops and bumped into a cognitively impaired patient I’d cared for over two years ago,” she said.

“While chatting to the family member I bent down to say hello to my former patient in her wheelchair. I stroked her cheek as I greeted her (this was something we always did) and she whispered to me ‘I’m so glad you came back to me’.

“Moments like this remind me of why I became a nurse.”

Nurses make up more than 50 per cent of our workforce and work across a diverse range of specialties at the bedside and beyond.

We thank and celebrate the excellent nurses we are fortunate enough to have as caregivers at St John of God Health Care as part of International Nurses Day on 12 May.