After working for more than 15 years in paediatrics, registered nurse Patricia made the move to aged care in 2004 and has never looked back.
“Nursing in aged care is a vocation — a calling — not just a job,” says Patricia. “You are caring for people in the last years of their lives, so it’s very special. You are there to support them and care for them.”
Patricia is the Clinical Care Coordinator at our Monash Gardens Residential Aged Care home in Mulgrave and runs the day-to-day nursing routine with the Clinical Care Manager. She loves the everyday interactions she has with residents and cares for them as if they were her own parents.
“My parents are not here, they live overseas, so working in aged care is like having them here in Australia and caring for them,” says Patricia.
The supportive team environment at Monash Gardens and the daily opportunities to grow her skills and knowledge are aspects of the job Patricia also loves.
“I am constantly learning and growing, particularly with all the changes to the Aged Care Quality Standards. I also enjoy learning about each resident’s life before they came to live at Monash Gardens and then using that information to provide the best care for them.”
From her experience, Patricia believes there are certain qualities nurses working in aged care need to have. She says, “You have to be passionate about your work, respectful to residents, and, of course, you have to have empathy — you have to put yourself in the residents’ shoes to help you understand what they need and how best to care for them.”
Patricia is one of 250 nurses working in Residential Aged Care and In-Home Care at Royal Freemasons. This International Nurses Day on Sunday 12 May, we honour and celebrate the dedicated way they support the people in our care each and every day.
To our wonderful nurses — thank you!
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