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For nurse practitioner Alicia Mah primary healthcare represents an opportunity to support her patients at every stage of their lives. Her work at Highlands General Practice at both Bowral and Moss Vale is a source of great joy as she brings a wealth of experience and empathy to her role.
How long have you been a practice nurse and how long have you been working in the Southern Highlands region?
I have 33 years’ experience in various disciplines throughout my nurse work journey, both in Australia and the UK. I have been in general practice in the Southern Highlands for the last 20 years and spent 13 years as a nurse practitioner.
When/why did you decide to pursue a career in nursing and specifically in primary care?
In 2003 after working in intensive care for years I started thinking there should be more useful ways to prevent people ending up in intensive care. I strongly support preventative care, and the primary healthcare setting is vital to all patient’s preventative health journey.
It’s a privileged position to be part of patients’ health experiences and general practice provides the type of environment which supports their acute and chronic health events. I know I’ve been doing this for a while when I see the generations coming through.
Tell us about the role of nurses in primary care
It’s a diverse role and I am never surprised by what comes through the door. It can be anything from travel health to women’s health or corporate medicals, immunisation or wound management, just to name a few.
At Highlands General Practice, I manage the nurse team and associated services, and support and educate our nurse and med students, as well as our registrars on their training program. A few nurse students have gone away having their perspective of nurses working in general practice completely changed and now consider a future in primary care as an option, rather than tertiary-based care settings.
I am also known as the walking Immunisation handbook and a regular go-to, especially for our doctors navigating the travel vaccines. One time I even minded a patient’s dog when she was shipped off to hospital.
What do you love about nursing and what do you find most fulfilling about your role?
It sounds cheesy but I never stop learning or taking an opportunity to improve my own depth of knowledge and how to apply this in practice. I also work with the mantra of never assuming anything and always asking ‘why’ which not only improves my understanding but helps patients navigate the challenges of understanding their own health.
Tell me about your ideal work day
I start by allocating the patients who are booked in and then take care of all the additional triages, walk-ins, doctor requests, opportunistic teaching moments and sharing collegial experiences where we collectively problem solve.
However crazy the day may have been, I constantly tell the team “we will go home today”. I love it when there are clinical challenges and when I see returning patients making improvements. I also love to see loads of appointment access in the appointment book and, of course, cake on the staff table.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Anything to do with mountains and snow. When I’m not travelling, I play hockey, and I am secretary of the Southern Highlands Hockey Association. I ride road bikes and support local not-for-profit organisations for the disabled and frail elderly.
Do you have any role models and why?
I’m lucky to be surrounded by a group of health professionals who are diverse, energetic and take a proactive approach to not only healthcare but life in general, so I like to think I don’t have one particular role model, rather multiple small bits of many. I particularly go with wisdom and experience.
How do you help educate your patients about maintaining good health?
Being realistic and okay with where they’re currently at, but also encouraging them to move to the next health goal. Even if they take one thing from an interaction to start contemplating, or when there is actual action, that gets exciting. I’m super keen on good travel health advice and I’m always encouraging patients not to leave their ‘sensible’ brain behind when they get on a flight.