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The Big Tree House
I’ve always been a bit of a tree hugger, love the rainforest, the eucalyptusy smells, the birdsong, the silence. Neighbours within poking distance is not my preference, i love people but like choosing when I interact and Rob, well he prefers animals! 😆 I’m used to the drive home from work, nose to tail traffic,…
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A Shift On Women’s Surgical Ward
When bodies falter, nurses have a ringside seat, give care to all, to strangers. Who will the strangers be? Someone’s mum, auntie, brother, cousin, sister, uncle, granny, grandpa. They never know. This shift begins with bedside handover. First woman, large ovarian cancer removed the day before. Eye contact, smile, ID check, note her skin colour,…
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Learning To Be A Nurse Glasgow 1983
I’m from a family of nurses going way back. Great auntie Evelyn nursed in London during WW2. Great Auntie Jean was a “Call The Midwife” helping women birth at home, day and night in 1950’s Greenock, Scotland. Three of dads sisters were nurses and my own mum a community district nurse. Watching her leave home…
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Navigating The Australian Maternity System 1995
Arriving in Oz I joined an agency needing a salary as soon as possible. First shift, 6.45am on the postnatal floor of a large public tertiary hospital, an old building, no AC, stinking hot 35-degree day, working under the whir of multiple fans, white dress and tights clinging, sweat trickling down my back.
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A Community Midwifery Service QLD 1997 – 1999
An accurate quote ❤️ Midwifery is both joyful and painful. We see the best and worst day of people’s lives in our everyday experience. We are incredibly lucky to be part of women’s lives when things are bright and jubilant, but also when they are darkest and most difficult. It allows us to see the…
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Another Day At The Office
EMERGENCY 🤕🤒 Sign in at fish- bowl command centre, head off into the mix of unwell humanity. What’ll the day bring? Slight nerves give an edge working in a place like this, keeps you on yer toes. People everywhere, organised chaos. Police, bodies slumped on trolleys, paramedics queue with their unwell human cargo, “not too…
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A Shift On Maternity ward, Australia 2022
It’s a morning shift, the ward a long, large L-shape with six bays (four beds in each) seven single rooms and two soundproofed bereavement rooms. Looking in from the entrance there’s a hive of activity. Cleaners mop, wardies push beds, partners look for loved ones, midwives wheel babies in cots, trolleys jostle for space ……
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Chicken Owning FYI
Owning a few chickens, how hard can it be? Give em seed, leftover greens, fresh water, shelter, room to do their chicken thing then sit back and enjoy. The scratching, the dust bathing, the sun baking, the cute clucking. Therapy pets in your own back yard, delightful.
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Emigrating to Oz
A young couple, Nurse/Midwife and Marine Ecologist, leave cold, rainy Scotland for sunny sub-tropical Queensland Australia. He loves adventure, change, excitement, she loves calm, order, peace and quiet. Their bond, an overdeveloped care factor for all living things. One small block of land and many animals later, how does it all work out? (What could…
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The Midwife/Nurse Hobbyfarmer 