COVID-19 border closures can have a significant impact on regional health centres, which often rely on international and interstate agency staff to meet their resourcing needs.
With state borders closed earlier in the year, nurse at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital ED, Glenys Doughty was deployed to the rural NSW town of Hillston's Multipurpose Service to lead the team.
I work at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital where I am a senior nurse in charge of the Emergency Department (ED). On any day, my work involves triaging, resuscitations, whatever the shift requires.
In response to state border closures and a shortage of international and interstate agency staff, I flew out to Hillston Multipurpose Service (MPS) on 18 January this year, returning on 11 March after an eight-week deployment.
Hillston is a small, close-knit township in the country, approximately 100km from Griffith in South-West rural New South Wales. The MPS includes an aged care facility with ten beds, five acute beds and three emergency beds. I spent much of my time on shift in charge of the facility, working with an enrolled nurse. Often there was no doctor on site so when one was needed, they were brought in via video call.
Every experience is unique, so I wouldn't say that I have been involved in anything exactly like this. When I was deployed to World Youth Day in 2008, I worked in a tent in a field hospital responding to an outbreak of influenza and gastroenteritis among attendees.
In 2019, I was the registered nurse at the Australian Scout Jamboree in Adelaide. To run the event, a makeshift town is constructed for 13,000 people. I remember sitting there in the tent in the middle of nowhere, with the responsibility to care for 10,000 scouts and 2,000 adults who were affected by dehydration, gastroenteritis, and respiratory conditions brought about by the intense heat and dusty conditions.
Experiences like these, and my time in Hillston, help build your adaptability and resilience. For example, you see patients with different kinds of presentations in the country compared to the city, so you need to be ready for anything and be able to both think on your feet and outside the box to make the best use of the different resources available.
I have found I learn something new every day. The more important thing is to be open to that learning. There is no 'one big thing' but hours, days and years of experience built up over time.
My advice is to grasp any opportunity that you can and to recognise that every deployment is different, so you need to approach it with an open mindset.
When I went to Hillston, my goal was to merge myself into the township so the people could trust me. On my last day there, I made it into the town newspaper, they threw me a big afternoon tea and I was loaded up with gifts of baked goods and farm fresh nuts and fruit, specialities of Hillston.
The community had embraced me and I was no longer the 'city nurse,' I was 'Glenys, the city nurse' – I had made it!
My time in Hillston is a memory I will carry for the rest of my life. Likewise, I like to think I made an impact on that town too. It was a very special time and group of people.
Being part of the community was a highlight of my time at Hillston. I embraced all opportunities to get involved - I made it my goal to immerse myself in the community – and to do so successfully was such a privilege.
One way I went about this, was getting involved in community events as often as I could. I attended the outback triathlon and a big rugby match between towns, where I became a member of the Hillston Hogs cheer squad, and I joined the social bowls team too.
The community was so welcoming. They could see I wanted to get involved and embraced me wholeheartedly. It was a magical experience. By the end of my deployment, I recognised most of the names in the town newspaper and when patients presented at the MPS, I knew, 'that's so-and-so's daughter'. Those personal relationships are so important in a healthcare setting to provide a positive experience for patients and their families.
I will also always remember the incredible work of our rural nurses. My time at Hillston was eye-opening and offered a firsthand insight into what an amazing job our nurses are doing to support regional communities.
My family has experienced the effects of the pandemic firsthand. Every time I have a COVID-19 test, my family don't go to work just to be safe. They're very aware of the situation and supportive of me.
There has been a fair bit of stigma related to COVID-19 and being a frontline worker. For example, there were times people didn't want to be around me because I treat patients, and that was hard. Thankfully, people are more educated now, but last year, my family did it tough – like so many families. I'm grateful for their support, and that support is how I get through each day.
Another challenge from the perspective of being on deployment, was in Hillston there were no cases of COVID-19, so I fielded my share of questions on why city restrictions had to be followed in the country.
I camp, go four-wheel driving, I swim, I'm a Scout Leader and I love travelling both overseas and in Australia. I am also able to unwind and de-stress through the support of my family.
Families are an extension of your role in health, so you need their support. Mine have helped me through so many situations, from when I've needed to work overtime to dealing with events that are difficult to process emotionally. It's important to have a trusted and reliable network to help you through and allow you the support and space to unwind.
Do you have a story to share about how you are involved with the COVID-19 response? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at info@health.nsw.gov.au.
