Carlie, pictured above with MercyCare CEO Anthony Smith, has worked at MercyCare as a Nurse and Service Lead since 2014 and recently won the Catherine McAuley Award, which recognises a person or service which demonstrates strong values alignment, conviction, courage and the Mercy spirit to enact our mission and ethos shapers.
But the recognition was no surprise to those who have worked alongside Carlie over the past few years, with many describing her as a passionate worker who goes above and beyond to ensure her clients receive the highest quality care.
While the win caught Carlie by surprise, she said it was a great honour to be among the staff that were recognised for their hard work.
“I have worked at MercyCare for several years and was very proud to be recognised and chosen as the winner,” she said.
“We have lots of amazing staff at MercyCare, often they work alone and therefore don’t always get recognised for going above and beyond with their work. I love that we can recognise this through these awards.”
Recalling a moment in 2021, Carlie described how she had gone to see a client for clinical assessment who needed some encouragement to be admitted into hospital.
“He had deteriorated and was unable to be safe by himself at home but was unwilling to go to hospital — I discovered that his main concern he hadn’t been able to shower for six weeks due to deterioration,” Carlie said.
“I immediately helped him with showering and getting into clean clothes, something I haven’t done for a few years.
“He immediately looked much more comfortable, feeling better for being clean and accepted that he needed to go to hospital.
“He held my hand tight with tears in his eyes and thanked me, it was a very special moment. The gratitude he showed me for the little support I gave made me remember why I have chosen to work in nursing and aged care.”
For Carlie, it’s experiences such as this that make every day different in her job, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love the variety of my job as every day is different. I particularly enjoy supporting others to get the best potential out of individual members of the team,” she said.
“We have a great team and value them all.”
