Providing nursing care in rural New South Wales
Having grown up in the USA, Nancy Spicer found both the man she was to marry and her chosen career path on a trip to Australia.
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“I grew up in Illinois but studied Nursing at California State University, Chico and graduated in 1983 with a public health certificate and a bachelor of science in nursing,” says Nancy. “I then had a very substantial travel bug and spent the next two years travelling in many countries and ended up settling in Australia with a man I met from Jindabyne.”
Working rurally as a nurse, Nancy had exposure to a wide range of specialisations in nursing.
“I worked mostly in Accident and Emergency initially, but working rurally, I had secondments to rehab/physiotherapy, palliative care and women's health.” She then had to settle down with the growth of her family “I then spent nearly 10 years working in day surgery as the hours suited a family.”
But, true to her restless spirit, she soon realised she needed more of a challenge in her career and is now a registered nurse at Bega Hospital Oncology Unit.
“I was offered a hospital training package in oncology as they needed more trained staff. I have been there now for 3.5 years and love it,” she says. “I find cancer care very rewarding because you get to know the family and carers as well as the patient, and form close relationships with them. We work together as a team, and I feel I provide an excellent service in Bega that in many cases cares for patients and families for years.”
Nancy particularly enjoys the constant challenge of learning, with new treatments and scientific advances she finds through eviQ, the Cancer Institute’s standard cancer treatment website.
“We use eviQ to update and verify our knowledge about protocols prior to treating patients,” she explains. “It’s useful for patient information about the treatments and other procedures such as central lines. I think it has kept us current as it is updated frequently.”
I find cancer care very rewarding because you get to know the family and carers as well as the patient,
and form close relationships
with them
Even though Nancy wouldn’t work anywhere else, she admits that working at a rural hospital does have its limitations.
“I feel rurally, you have to do without resources. Though we do a fantastic job with what we have, we only are partially staffed,” she says. “We really need more nurses ... better conditions of staffing and pay to keep them.”
For the long term, Nancy has her own plans to keep herself from getting restless again.
“I am quite sure that I will always work in either palliative care or oncology/haematology,” she says “Although, I am always looking for informal training and in services to maintain my knowledge and interest.
“I am hoping at some point in time to do a formal certificate, but think it best to wait until my daughter does her HSC next year. I don't think the entire family needs that kind of stress!”