During her 52-year nursing career, Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH) Nursing Unit Manager, Margaret Connolly stayed true to a promise she made to herself, right up until her retirement this week, aged 70.
¡°I vowed that I would never treat my staff the way I had been treated as a trainee nurse,¡± Margaret said.
As Margaret recalls the dire conditions endured by young nurses in the early 1970s, she wonders how she survived.
¡°It was a very difficult time in nursing then. They expected you to do the work, but not to be involved in the caring,¡± she said.
Back then, there was no place for emotion in the wards, often run by regimental former servicewomen.
¡°I¡¯d come home to Cessnock (NSW) from Sydney on the train and begged my mother not to make me return,¡± she said.
But Margaret¡¯s mother ¨C also a nurse ¨C saw a strength in her that Margaret couldn¡¯t see in herself.
It was a trait she would inherit from her inspirational mum of seven children.
¡°Life was difficult for her, however she never faltered,¡± Margaret said proudly.
In 1981, a light switched on inside Margaret when she began working in a surgical ward in Cairns.
¡°I found my forte,¡± she said, ¡°and it was the best thing ever.¡±
¡°When you see a patient through their journey, it¡¯s almost like you go on that journey yourself.¡±
Having found her passion, Margaret joined the surgical ward team at Gold Coast Health in 1986, at the old Southport building, and was quickly promoted to Nursing Unit Manager.
¡°I treat my staff the way I want to be treated, as a human being,¡± she said.
¡°I get to know my staff. I ask them what they would like to do. I challenge them to go outside their own comfort zone and to grow.¡±
Under Margaret¡¯s guidance, staff supported each other through the huge move to Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH) in 2013.
¡°We had gone from a six-bed environment to a single room environment, without an increase in staff, so we had a big footprint to travel in the nurse¡¯s day,¡± she said.
It was then that a personal challenge ¨C her partner Peter¡¯s cancer battle ¨C would motivate Margaret¡¯s greatest career achievement.
¡°When we came to GCUH we didn¡¯t see a lot of major head and neck cancer surgery,¡± she said.
¡°Peter was operated on in my ward, but there was no radiation here. That was a very lonely journey for both of us.
¡°I had always wanted to get a Nurse Navigator for Head and Neck, and that¡¯s been achieved. That is a fabulous service for those patients.
¡°The growth in this hospital is phenomenal. There are amazing things being achieved in this facility.¡±
Margaret is filled with immense joy as she reflects on the skills growth among her staff.
¡°I can see potential in people that they can¡¯t see, and that has given me so much satisfaction in my job,¡± she said.
¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re capable of until you try. I learned that from my mum.¡±
There will be many tears as Margaret¡¯s team farewells their ¡®second mum¡¯.
¡°This becomes your family. You¡¯re dealing with life and death, and it¡¯s those shared experiences that make the team so coherent,¡± she said.
Peter has been waiting patiently for Margaret, and their beloved ragdoll cat Snowflake, to join him aboard their retirement cruiser, ¡®Nalani¡¯ ¨C meaning ¡®serenity of the skies¡¯.
¡°We¡¯ll just head north and see how far we get,¡± she said.
For the first time in 52 years, Margaret will gaze into that expansive sky, take a deep breath and look back on all that she has achieved.
¡°There were times when I thought, I can¡¯t do this,¡± she said, as tears filled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m extremely proud of myself.¡±