NURSING A CALLING FOR ‘GRAN’
A NURSE who spent nearly 50 years at the Mater Hospital Townsville has retired after a lifetime of caring for people.
Kathy Nalder officially finished up at the Mater on July 31 after first walking through the doors some 46½ years earlier on January 8, 1973.
The 64-year-old spent a great deal of her career in the children’s ward and also moved on to other areas including medical records, coding and bookings.
“I loved working with children. They were always a pleasure to work with, they got sick quick but also got better quick,” she said.
“(It was a pleasure) getting to know the parents of the children, and then once the children had grown up ... who later had kids in hospital.”
Because of her mentorship of younger colleagues, Ms Nalder came to be known as “gran”.
“I always gave them praise when they did well or if they thought of something that could have happened to the patient … I don’t think enough is given these days,” she said. “People are very quick to point out the bad things.”
I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A NURSE, I ALWAYS WANTED TO TAKE CARE OF PEOPLE AND HELP THEM KATHY NALDER
Despite the hours spent cleaning up blood and vomit, Ms Nalder found nursing to be a calling and said what she loved the most was “total patient care”.
“I always wanted to be a nurse, I always wanted to take care of people and help them,” she said.
“From an early age I never wanted to be anything but a nurse.
“We used to do everything, from making cups of tea for the patients on the weekend to rolling cotton balls and sealing them in packets.”
Ms Nalder said she was incredibly thankful to the “strict but fair” Sisters of Mercy who gave her the opportunity all those years ago and credits them for making the nurses better people.
“I want to say goodbye to all those I knew and to thank them all very much,” she said.
“The doctors, nurses … everyone.”