Emily Vella always wanted to work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health ¨C she just didn¡¯t picture it would be as a child health nurse.
¡°I always envisioned it would be in diabetes or cardiac so I did heaps of study in that,¡± she said.
Emily started her nursing cadetship at the old Gold Coast Hospital more than a decade ago, studying at university at the same time.
She worked cardiac before moving onto the fast-paced Medical Assessment Unit at Robina Hospital.
¡°Then the child health nurse role came up with Waijungbah Jarjums and it is a bit of a different ball game,¡± she said.
Waijungbah Jarjums is a model of care which pairs midwives and child health nurses who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander with families who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
¡°I am a Guruma Woman from Robe River Country which is Western Australia, up north. I grew up there until I was about 12. I then came here to Yugembeh speaking Country,¡± Emily said.
¡°When I was 18, I was quite sick and ended up in hospital. It was the first time I was in hospital and what the nurses did for me was amazing. They empowered me and I thought, I want to do that for other people.¡±
And that¡¯s just what she is doing. Emily has been supported by Waijungbah Jarjums to do her grad certificate in child health through the University of Sydney.
As a child health nurse, Emily does child health checks for babies through to two years old.
¡°It¡¯s been an adjustment coming from a hospital setting to a community setting but so rewarding,¡± she said.
¡°When you have someone who identifies looking after you, that person understands culture, what that means and how that plays a part in the way you raise your children. Our families know they are safe and supported culturally.¡±
March 18 was National Closing the Gap Day and Emily hopes Waijungbah Jarjums will continue to play its role in closing the gap when it comes to health equity.
¡°I really love this program, it¡¯s holistic. It¡¯s changing futures,¡± Emily said.