Testimonials

“Proud to be a nurse at such a profound time in history”

– Hazel Bucher MACN

“Deciding to go to university & become an RN was a dream come true. Many thought I was crazy starting at 53. 2020 has been the best & worst year of my life thus far … I know the best is yet to come.”

– Karen Hawken MACN(Student)

“Ever the resilient and compassionate workers – we have faced such adversity this last 12 months. Thank you to everyone – the workers, our families and communities for supporting and lifting each other through a challenging year to remember.”

– Pam D

“I have been a nurse for over 40 years and 2020 has been the most challenging. At that same time it has been very rewarding. I have provided an audiometry service to children as a sole clinician and screened more clients and reduced my long waiting list from months down to a week. Restructuring the clinics by working smarter achieving outcomes was certainly noticed in my LHD. The client satisfaction that they were able to get a service was my reward when other services had completely shut down. I also have been the President of the audiometry nurses association providing positive leadership when others felt despair during the pandemic. Having a positive approach to life and drawing on my years of nursing experience I know this year is going to pass and we will move forward again soon. Patience & resilience are the best nursing skills to have.”

– Tracy Hawes

“2020 was an exceptional and interesting year to be a nurse. Faced with challenges from COVID, our profession rose to the challenge and we continued to deliver exceptional care. Congrats to everyone!”

– Lee Garwood MACN

“A year like no other in Victoria. So blessed to have worked with a team of health care workers from across the country. Thank you for the experience and thank you for standing together! I have never been more proud to be a nurse.”

– Sarah Sida

“I have been nursing for more than 14 years on 3 different continents. Year 2020 for me was lonely and isolating as I cared for my patients here in Australia, while my mum lives in Italy. For my patients I had to become their family. As borders closed and communities became smaller, as a nurse I became an integral part of people’s lives. To become more effective for the betterment of my community, this year I became a Nurse Immuniser, with the help of The Australian College of Nursing. Now patients come to me not only for wound dressings, not only for Health Assessments, not only for injections. They come to me when they are at their lowest, and I am there to help.”

– Noel Paradero

“2020 will be a year to remember. After many years of doing general practice nursing we adapted to delivering care via telehealth overnight. The practice had always delivered immunisations at an appointment in the surgery – we had to deliver Flu vaccines to over 1000 patients in the car park!”

– Jane Bollen MACN

“Having the privilege of leading thousands of dedicated nurses and midwives throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne has been a humbling and extremely rewarding experience. We have all worked so hard during this period to keep our patients and each other safe. I am in awe of my colleagues and could not be prouder to be a nurse than I am in this, our year.”

– Paula Stephenson MACN

“The final year of an undergraduate nursing degree is never guaranteed to be smooth sailing. Adding COVID-19 into the mix meant dealing with a rapid shift to online learning, cancelled and rescheduled placements and ever-changing guidelines. Traditional in-person graduate year interviews were replaced by online interviews or simply recording video responses.

Through all the uncertainty and ever-changing goalposts, I managed to finish my final placement and on Christmas Eve no less. Thank you to the nurses I’ve met along the way who have been nothing but supportive and eager to teach. I can’t wait to join you next year.”

– Jo Schobben MACN