Penny Rhodes: Nurse Manager, Te Mata Peak Practice

As a young girl Penny Rhodes knew she wanted to be a nurse.

The Nurse Manager at Te Mata Peak Practice has 28 years nursing under her belt, both in secondary and primary care and has passed on her passion to her daughters – who are both training to be nurses too.

“I love caring for people and giving back to the community.”

Penny has worked in most departments – from emergency departments and intensive care units to medical, paediatrics and now general practices.

The need for a new challenge saw her join Te Mata Peak Practice almost 10 years ago.

“My secondary care experience has contributed to the nursing knowledge I bring to primary care which has a very broad scope.”

Penny enjoys working in the community and really getting to know the patients she cares for.

“We know their families, they know our families and we can really look at the big picture to provide the best care for that individual.”

In her role as Nurse Manager, Penny has introduced new initiatives to encourage nurses to work to the top of their scope while at the same time addressing workload pressures.

Nurses at Te Mata Peak Practice have taken over handling the driver’s license medical checks and are reviewing non-urgent medical notes and results to reduce some of the workloads on the GPs and Nurse Practitioners.

“Nurses are capable of so much more than they’re given credit for and we try to recognise what our team can do with the full support of management.

“We are very fortunate to have a great team – everything is a credit to the team.”

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