Practice nurse Donna Simmons loves being able to make a difference and support her local community in her role at Schwarz Family Practice, Elderslie. She says “working in a positive and friendly practice is just an added bonus!”
How long have you been a practice nurse and how long have you been working in the Camden LGA?
I have been practice nursing since 2010 and working as a practice nurse in the Camden LGA at the Schwarz Family Practice, Elderslie since 2013. I initially started practice nursing in Campbelltown in a smaller practice along Queen Street.
When/why did you decide to pursue a career in nursing and specifically primary care?
It was an easy decision for me after my HSC to pursue nursing at university. Growing up, anything Medical or First Aid-related always interested me.
I commenced my now 30-year Registered Nursing career at Concord Hospital, then once married and settled in the Camden LGA, I joined the busy Community Nursing team at Rosemeadow for 10 years, then spent some time at Carrington as an Aged Care Co-Ordinator, then finally decided to give practice nursing a go, and have never looked back.
I knew with my previous experience in different areas of nursing I could utilise my skills each day. Practice nursing has kept me engaged and satisfied, particularly working in an exceptional team environment like I do daily.
Tell us about the role of nurses in primary care
I believe nurses hold a very important role in primary care and we do our best to complement the doctors in their day-to-day role. I hold a Team Leader role at the practice and am well supported by another four talented nurses. We are each diverse with our skills and are able to bring these skills into use regularly.
The role as a practice nurse is very diverse and we are able to support our GPs with many tasks including (but certainly not limited to) the administering of immunisations, setting up of procedures/excisions and assisting with these, triaging calls and dealing with walk-in emergencies, care planning, health assessments, all levels of wound care, post op care, diabetes cycles of care and education, COVID-19 clinic and flu clinics, catch-up schedules, ordering of medical supplies/vaccines, referrals to allied health (Community Nursing, My Aged Care, High Risk Foot Clinic etc.) just to name a few.
I believe the best way to contribute to improving clinical outcomes in our practice is by getting to know your patients’ needs well, listening to their concerns and most importantly, being very proactive with education and sharing this information back to the practice and then onto our patients.
What do you love about nursing/what do you find most fulfilling about your role?
There are so many wonderful and rewarding aspects to love about nursing. To be able to be a caring and nurturing person in times of stress or concern for a family is rewarding but also feeling confident in your role that you are able to help patients and give useful advice and support in times of need. For me, making a difference and supporting my local community is what I love and working in a positive and friendly practice is just an added bonus!
What is your biggest challenge as a practice nurse and how do you overcome this?
Like all practices and nurses world-wide, I feel the challenges of late would likely revolve around COVID and supporting our community during this pandemic. The changing nature of COVID initially, learning how to triage calls and advise and support our community would come close to being overwhelming. But as time has passed so too did the stress of the pandemic (to some degree). We have managed to support our community with COVID vaccine clinics – proving another challenge in itself, being quite a time-consuming process.
Another challenge I personally feel is the lack of support for our vulnerable ageing community. Accessing services eg home-care packages, transport needs, dementia support for families and carers, referring to My Aged Care and the period between referrals and families being able to receive assistance can be very lengthy.
Tell me about your ideal workday?
Working in a positive environment surrounded by an amazing team (which I am daily) but if it was to be truly “ideal” it may need to also include some cake and maybe a little chocolate.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I enjoy watching and playing netball (definitely in that order), spending time with family and friends, listening to music and podcasts, day trips to new places, eating out and maybe also enjoying a sneaky wine.
Do you have any role models/why?
I do not have any particular role models, but I am in awe of many people who I have met along the way. To those that struggle with day-to-day adversity and continue to stay positive, for those people committed to learning and educating others in their chosen field and I am definitely in awe of all front-line workers who have proven to be so incredibly resilient in recent times.
How do you help educate patients about maintaining good health?
I think the trick to educating patients about maintaining good health is to show a keen interest in someone’s general well-being, build rapport, gain trust and respect, ask plenty of questions and by giving plenty of positive feedback.
We need to take advantage of opportunities in the brief time we spend with patients and discuss basics like medication management, skin care regime (being sun sense), checking they are up-to-date with age-appropriate immunisations, attending BMIs etc …just a couple of simple examples.