Nadine King’s nursing skills have taken her across Australasia, from her training in Lower Hutt, to the rural and remote parts of Western Australia, and then back to New Zealand – to Hawke’s Bay.
Over that time she has become an expert multi-tasker. In her early nursing days, being married to a Kiwi shepherd saw her not only on the wards in rural Western Australian hospitals, but also heading out with the shearing gang in Australia as chief cook and bottle washer with a bit of rousing thrown in.
“At that age it was exciting to go to different places and see and do different things.”
But nursing remained her foremost focus. Working in those small general rural hospitals meant no day was ever the same, with patients presenting with a full range of illnesses and conditions, from broken bones to mental health issues. Nadine gravitated towards mental health nursing.
“Out there, it was nothing to do 300 kilometres a day to go and see someone for an assessment. If they needed critical help, we organised a plane evacuation to Perth.
“That is where I saw the diversity that comes with working in mental health and experienced the joy of walking the journey with people and seeing them recover.”
In 2004, home called and Nadine and family chose Hawke’s Bay because: “it’s warmer than anywhere else in New Zealand”.
Her journey along the mental health nursing path continued, starting with a position on the Hastings Mental Health Community Team.
Over the ensuing near 15 years, she worked in both the community and inpatient facilities, before taking on the role of Associate Clinical Nurse Manager in Ngā Rau Rākau (Hawke’s Bay District Health mental health inpatient unit) in 2011.
Today she manages the intensive day programme, for clients from within the unit and out in the community – a programme focused on improving well-being, reducing the severity and minimising the effects of illness, and giving clients practical life skills and strategies.
“I feel privileged to help facilitate a person’s journey to recovery after experiencing a period of difficulty in their mental health and enabling them to re-connect with friends, family and their support networks. Helping them to re-discover their strength, skill, mana and building resilience”.
Working in mental health uses a lot of the same skills as other areas but the key to being a successful nurse is your ability to listen, to empathise and show you care – it is about treating the person (and their family/whānau) as a whole – a very holistic view to nursing.
Post your comment
Comments
No one has commented on this page yet.