Day honours local nursing heroes

HEATHCOTE Health celebrated International Nurses Day last Friday with pizza and massage vouchers for all nursing staff.

Acute nurse unit manager Jade Davies said the event acknowledged the important role they played in the health service.

“It means recognising all our nurses and all the wonderful jobs they do,” she said. “Including patient care, advocating for patients, going above and beyond at all times to fill shifts, and helping out in all areas.”

Chief executive Dan Douglass said Heathcote’s nursing team cared for the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“This care is provided in a range of care settings including acute, sub-acute, urgent care, residential aged care, community and primary care settings,” he said.

“The work itself is extremely challenging, physically, mentally and emotionally, and the pandemic has presented many additional day-to-day challenges.

“Through it all, our nurses have come to work with positive attitudes, they have worked collaboratively to make the necessary changes, and they have continued to provide the high quality and safe care our community needs.

“Nurses make the lives of those they care for better every day.”

Dr Douglass said nurses made a first-hand difference in people’s lives and this was inspiring.

“While we celebrate the amazing work nurses do, it is also a time to celebrate and talk to people about why nursing is so important and inspire others to become nurses themselves,” he said.

“Every family in our Heathcote and district community has their own story to tell of when a nurse has made a positive and significant difference during the most profound moments of their lives.”

International Nurses Day is celebrated on 12 May, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, each year.