International Nurses Day takes place this Friday 12 May, and is an opportunity to thank nurses for the incredibly important work they do in our community.
Here at MercyCare we are celebrating our dedicated team of Home Care nurses, who support older people to continue to live independently at home.
One of these nurses is Jackie Bell, who has worked with us at MercyCare for almost two years and has been a nurse for eight years.
Jackie, whose role is Clinical Nurse Advisor, brings compassion to her work every day, always aspiring to do something that makes a difference.
Over her career, Jackie has gained experience working in hospital, general practice and community settings, and has realised that community work is where her heart lies.
“I really value helping people in a caring and compassionate way. Sometimes in western culture we don’t value the elderly as much as other cultures, which can make them feel more isolated,” Jackie said.
“I like to be there for those people when they don’t have other support, developing relationships with them and providing the care that they might not get from others in their world.”
A typical day for Jackie is full of variety and includes attending clinical visits, providing advice and mentoring to her team of nurses, working on policies and procedures, providing supervision, and managing infection control.
Jackie generously uses her experience and knowledge to improve the skills of her team, so we asked her what advice she would give someone starting their career as a home care nurse:
“I encourage home care nurses to grow their powers of observation by looking at everything when they walk into a client’s house. It’s good practice to think holistically about the client in front of you. There is a lot going on for them; what’s going on in their bodies and their environment can have a significant impact on their wellbeing.”
Being a nurse is demanding, but it certainly has its rewards. Jackie tells us, “Seeing new clients and giving them helpful information, identifying areas of care improvement, especially when things aren’t going well for a client, developing relationships and being able to walk alongside older people through their ageing journey – these are my favourite things about home care nursing and they are why I recommend this job whole-heartedly!”
If you would like to learn about a career in Home Care with MercyCare, you can find out more at: https://www.mercycare.com.au/join-us/careers/aged-care-careers
