There’s no doubt that Nurse Robyn Sutherland has made a huge difference to the lives of an enormous number of older people over the years.
The Uniting AgeWell Preston Community Team Leader not only know the medical history of each and every resident under her care –she’s also fond of them all. And their faces light up when they see her. “I always joke with this one particular resident who has a wonderful sense of humour,” Robyn says. “I’ll say to him ‘Gooday Trouble’ and he’ll laugh and reply ‘Gooday Capital T (for trouble).”
Robyn radiates kindness and good cheer. “The other day a resident, Jane, came up to me and said ‘I need a hug’. I gave her a hug and she said ‘That’s better – just what I needed.”
Robyn is also pretty much a favourite with staff too. A team player or a “Jill of all trades” as she puts it. Someone was needed to sit at the busy front desk for a few weeks, helping with admissions / discharges, dealing with queries from residents, their families and the public, and Robyn cheerfully rolled up her sleeves and jumped right in.
It’s pretty easy, given how well she knows the site and the organisation. She’s been at Uniting AgeWell for 35 years; first at the now-closed Carnsworth Community and now at Preston Community.
“Everyone knows I’m a creature of habit,” Robyn says. “I’m very happy, I love what I do. Why would I leave?”
Why indeed?
Robyn was born and educated in the Greensborough/ Macleod areas and after she finished school applied to do nursing. She was told there was a two-year wait for a placement, so she joined the bank as a stop-gap measure. “I hated it,” she says cheerfully. “But thankfully six weeks into the role I got a letter saying I had been accepted at Fairfield Hospital to do nursing training. So I quit! And I’ve never looked back.”
Robyn did a number of agency nursing roles – working in acute care, aged care and rehab, and fell in love with aged care nursing. One of her agency gigs was at Carnsworth Community, they offered her a role, and she stayed there until it closed.
“I love the holistic care that nursing in aged care provides,” Robyn says. “In hospital settings the minute patients are well they’re discharged. In aged care the whole-of-the-person care means I get to see their health improve. It’s very rewarding.”
The role also facilitates a work life balance with its firmly rostered hours allowing Robyn to plan holidays. Robyn has travelled extensively in her earlier years, and now loves spending time with her family who are close to Mill Park where she lives.
It also frees up her time to do cross stitch. She has a number of framed works of art adorning her walls at home, with the largest almost one-metre by one-metre in size.
She also enjoys studying and over the years has certainly ensured that her academic training keeps pace with her hands-on learning. She has done training to learn about RCS and ACFI in order to do the claims. She has also done her medication endorsement and recently completed the HSR (Health and Safety Representative) training course.
Does a career in aged care appeal to you?