Susan Hawken is packing up her Hastings home, her two-year-old Labrador Fred, and heading to Wairoa to take-up the new senior position of Nurse Manager at Wairoa Hospital and Health Centre.
From Monday 17 February she will be working closely with Centre Manager Sonya Smith and Clinical Lead Dr Margaret Fielding to further strengthen patient safety and enhance staff leadership at the hospital.
“I am really looking forward to it. The three of us, with the 70-plus staff up there, will make a really effective team.”
The move comes after 12 years working in Hawke’s Bay Hospital, most recently as associate charge nurse in the emergency department, and clinical nurse specialist working on ensuring best pathways and practices for trauma patients.
Susan trained in Wellington in the early 1980s. “Over the following, near 40, years I’ve worked across all fields of nursing, developing a wide range of clinical skills, but my specialties are acute care and nursing management. I’m really happy to be able to take those skills to Wairoa.”
It will not be her first foray into rural nursing; with four years as sole charge nurse specialist at Franz Joseph Glacier in the South Island, and two years working in the remote rural hinterland in Australia’s Northern Territory, on her CV.
“I love living rural and I’m hoping to take up some of the pastimes that I’ve missed since living in the city – particularly fly fishing.”
Susan also loves walking and photography, perfect hobbies for the “fantastic Wairoa landscape”, and she has already tried out the local cafes and pronounced them “excellent”.
Post your comment
Comments
No one has commented on this page yet.