04 February 2025
Practice nurse Maree Carlson

When Maree Carlson discovered she wasn’t so good at making beds she decided to pursue a career as a general practice nurse. Today, as a crucial team member of Highlands General Practice in Bowral and Moss Vale her focus is on getting to know the families who turn up each day and helping them on their health journey.

To celebrate Primary Health Care Nurses Day, we spoke to Maree about what drives her to care for her community.

How long have you been a practice nurse and how long have you been working in the Bowral region?

I have been working in general practice since 2016 but was working in correctional nursing for four years prior to that. I have now been working in the South Western Sydney PHN region for two years.

When/why did you decide to pursue a career in nursing and specifically in primary care?

I always knew I wanted to be a nurse since I was little. I even had the outfit when I was five. I have always wanted to work outside of the hospital setting as I was interested in health promotion and health prevention and have never been good at making a bed.

I really enjoy getting to know my patients and their families and following their progress through their health journey.

Tell us about the role of nurses in primary care.

I usually describe the practice nurse role as a comparison to GPs: we know a little about everything.

Primary care nursing brings such a large amount of diversity in your day. We do a lot of acute and chronic wounds, repair of lacerations, chronic care, health assessments, child development checks and vaccinations, and adult/travel immunisations.

We do a lot of triage (phone and in person) and deal with a lot of emergency situations (especially chest pain). We work very closely with GPs and have a very cohesive relationship with them, which allows us to collaborate well, meeting the needs of our patients.

We have a good trust bond which allows us to fully work to our scope and expertise and feel like we are contributing in a strong clinical way.

What do you love about nursing/what do you find most fulfilling about your role?

Seeing people achieve in their lives, whether it is with their wound healing, their HbA1c improving, having children/grandchildren or working on their mental health.

I love watching the babies grow into children and look forward to one day seeing them return with their own children. I love meeting lots of different characters from all walks of life and hearing weird, wacky and wonderful stories.

Tell me about your ideal work day…

I have to be honest; I love when the doctor brings in an abscess to be drained or a wound to debride. I love a busy day which is mixed with lots of different activities.

I enjoy doing some wound care, skin excision, health assessment, ear syringing. My ideal work day would be a day filled with a little bit of everything, but definitely a day with a good abscess is a good day!

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love to go on random drives. There is so much to see in Australia. I love hopping in the car and driving wherever the wind takes me. If I see a dirt road even better. I have found so many wonderful places across NSW and Victoria to keep going back to and enjoying.

I also love music, listening to music and playing my piano and cello.

Do you have any role models and why?

I have moved around NSW and Victoria a fair bit in the past 16 years and have found every workplace I have worked I have gained wonderful knowledge and tips from an array of amazing nurses and doctors. Every nurse I meet comes from different work experiences, life experiences and skill sets and they have all helped shape me in my nursing career.

I had a wonderful role model at university. Kathryn Cooper was a lecturer and clinical placement advisor, and she helped instil in me a kindness and gentleness in nursing while still being assertive for your patient’s care. I am still in contact with her all these years later.

How do you help educate your patients about maintaining good health?

I try to be practical: not everyone fits into the same square. What works for one person will not work for another. I talk about starting slow and having small goals to help achieve and not set up for failure. I include patients in decision making and try to encourage them to be a part of their own health decisions/actions.