Celebrating International Nurses Day 2020
Today 12 May, nurses across the world are celebrating International Nurses Day.
This year, the Day aims to recognise the challenges the world faces in relation to good health and the contribution of nursing in addressing these. It is a call to action, aimed at ‘Nursing the world to health.’
Here at HSS we want to recognise our nurses employed through NurseWest who perform an incredible role supporting patients across WA. Their courageous work in face of the COVID-19 pandemic truly honours the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife and the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.
To celebrate International Nurses Day, we spoke with Kacey Brookes, Program Co-ordinator for NurseWest’s Get Real and Try (GREaT) work experience program, who is also a Clinical Nurse at the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC).
“I’ve always loved helping people and taking care of others ever since I was young,” Kacey said.
“I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to work across a variety of roles each week in nursing education, nurse led clinics and in mental health.”
Kacey said her background in Rural and Remote Emergency Nursing and her Regional Forensic training, helped to develop specialised skills to assist in her current role as the sole Clinical Nurse coordinating nurse led, medical forensic clinics at SARC.
“I work alongside an amazing team of SARC doctors, counsellors and administration staff.” she said.
“What I enjoy most in my role as the GREaT Co-ordinator is being able to coordinate a centralised nursing and midwifery work experience program for year 10 students in both metro and regional areas.
“I get to liaise with a range of hospital sites, schools, students and parents from different backgrounds and witness the enjoyment and enthusiasm that these placements bring to the students.”
In her final year of her nursing degree, Kacey took part in an international community volunteer placement in Laos where she spent 19 days visiting 12 remote villages providing health care to more than 1,000 Laotians and remembers it as one of the most incredible experiences of her life.