BUSINESS & EMPLOYMENT 29
w w w.nit.com.au • S eptember 19, 2012
Bu$iness & Employment
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Julie gets the best of both worlds
Story and image supplied.
Julie Morgan is one of life’s
lucky ones – she gets to live in
the city and work in the country
while making a difference to the
lives of thousands of people.
“I really have the best job,” says
Julie of her work as a flight nurse
with Air Ambulance.
Air Ambulance, a division of
the Ambulance Service of NSW,
transports rural and regional
patients by air to metropolitan
hospitals and tertiary centres.
Air Ambulance
essentially
provides two types of services non-urgent but essential medical
transport, and emergency medical
transport.
For Julie, leaving her job as an
emergency department clinical
nurse specialist and casual midwife
in a hospital to take up the role of a
flight nurse nine years ago was the
best decision she ever made.
“I wanted a change and feel
like I was making a contribution
and Ambulance offered a position
where I could live where I wanted
to live but still travel to rural
areas,” she said of her decision to
change jobs.
With only a pilot to accompany
them, flight nurses are solely
responsible for the care of the
patients they transport. Julie says
the opportunity to provide one-onone care is unique and one of the
most rewarding aspects of her job.
“I love the challenge of having
someone who’s really quite sick
and I can give them the care they
need.”
As the daughter of an Aboriginal
mother and a Maltese father, Julie
relishes the opportunity to work
with Indigenous communities. Her
mother grew up on a mission in
Wreck Bay, near Jervis Bay, and is
of the Wadi Wadi Tribe.
Since working as a flight nurse
she has had the privilege of
getting to know other Aboriginal
communities and gain a better
understanding of each community’s
traits and way of life.
In fact, one of the most rewarding
and memorable aspects of her
job involves taking terminally ill
patients, particularly Aboriginal
patients, home to die.
Many of these patients have
spent a considerable amount of
time in a big Sydney hospital away
from their home, their community
and their family.
“For Aboriginal people, where
they are from and their family
is so important, there’s just that
connection with the land. It’s a
privilege to say, you’re home now”.
One of the challenges Julie
faces is that some Indigenous
communities are hesitant about
accessing health care.
To overcome this, Julie tries to
get family members to come along
and talks openly and honestly with
the patients about what they can
expect. It also helps that many
people know of her mother’s tribe
or someone related to her.
“You’re all related somehow,
they all know somebody. There’s
that family spirit that you don’t feel
with other groups,” she says of the
Aboriginal community.
Of course, it’s not just Aboriginal
communities Julie loves working
with; it’s rural communities in
general.
“The community spirit is so
much stronger; they really help
their neighbours out there.”
Julie
also
enjoys
the
professionalism that comes with
working as a flight nurse and the
mutual respect and admiration her
colleagues have for each other.
All flight nurses must be a
registered nurse and midwife as
well as have qualifications and/or
extensive experience in aviation
nursing or adult critical care.
Despite this, Julie is continuing
to learn new skills through ongoing
education and training and enjoys
being able to better care for her
patients.
The Ambulance Service of
NSW is currently recruiting
Aboriginal flight nurses. For more
information, contact Callista
Bryan, Aboriginal Employment
Coordinator on (02) 9320 7644 or
[email protected]
Looking for the personnel touch?
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looking for personnel it’s a good idea to cast your net as widely as possible.
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