IND Mini Series: Rhi - The Holistic Nurse

International Nurses Day 2024 has the theme 'our nurses, our future, the economic power of care' which highlights the importance that nurses play within our society and how much they contribute to people's health. 

I this episode of our special mini series for IND 2024 we speak to Rhi who works in a medical and respiratory ward supporting children and their parents through their hospital admissions. She combines her passion for nursing with her empathy and love of educating and empowering others to help families and children thrive both inside the hospital and out.

Transcript

  We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and pay respects to Elders past, present, and emerging. We recognize their connection to country and their role in caring for and maintaining country over thousands of years. This PEDS  Small Talk mini series is a little different to our regular programming.

Instead of chatting with parents and children, in light of International Nurses Day on the 12th of May, we're going to speak with five incredible paediatric nurses who will share their journey into becoming children's nurses, and the diverse roles that they all have now.  We discuss the amazing highs and the very real lows of nursing, along with some nurses humour along the way.

So blanket warning for all the body fluids here. These are the stories of five women who consider it a privilege and an honour to have made a profession out of nursing. And we hope you enjoy the special mini series edition of Peed's Small Talk. 





Welcome everybody to Peds Small Talk. We have got a special mini series that we're bringing to you this week in the lead up to International Nurses Day.

So International Nurses Day has announced its theme and it is our nurses, our future, the economic power of care. , what it means to me is, It really highlights the importance that nurses play within our society and how much we really contribute to people's health. And so what we thought we would do is highlight a whole lot of different nurses that work with children and their career paths and why they really like being nurses.

So to get us started,  Sarah, I wanted to ask you, , what got you into nursing?  

Thanks, Grace. I guess my path into nursing really began with my fascination for child development rather than I guess that initial desire to work in a hospital or do shift work, which I'm sure no one goes into nursing thinking they want to do it for shift work.

But for a very long time, I was intrigued by how children grow and learn. And I guess the interest, really grew strong during my high school years. As I delved into those human anatomy sort of subjects and physiology, I didn't come from a generational legacy. So in fact, my mom was a teacher and I really thought this might have been my career path.

I used to play teachers a lot with my siblings every single day. But I was really passionate about health and wellbeing, and I wanted to incorporate teaching into it. I started looking at career paths and I thought maybe paediatric physiotherapy or becoming a paediatrician was my line of work.

But the thought of moving to a big city like Melbourne to study was daunting. I was a young year 12 and I was also a country kid. So nursing to me seems like that perfect foundational choice. It was a really solid start and I thought perhaps I might eventually transition to do medicine.

However, everything shifted during an undergraduate critical care placement. I was really captivated by the complexity of the human body. And actually, especially the brain at that point. And I knew I'd found my calling in PEDS critical care. And so I began my career path and I was determined to pursue You this specialty and go to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, which is where I've been for the entirety of my career.

It was actually quite funny after this particular placement that really, consolidated. I wanted to do this. I was going on a family holiday and we had to drive seven hours away. And I remember vividly spending the entire time talking to my family about how the brain works. They all fell asleep apart from my dad who was driving.

And it was after that he said, I think you've found your niche, Sarah. So that was certainly cemented my decision to. Focus on Peds critical care. As in this role, I've been able to combine both my deep interest in the workings of the body with my passion for teaching. And I've really had the real privilege of educating both healthcare professionals, as well as non healthcare professionals and now community members.

And so that's really been amazing merging those passions together into a really fulfilling career path. So I guess reflecting on my journey as a nurse. There probably has not been a better fit for me. This is just the perfect job for me. It's hard work but it's deeply satisfying.

And I'm so proud to call myself a nurse, but in particular, a pediatric critical care nurse.  How about you, Grace? What's your journey?

Yeah, I think mine's a lot more slapdash than your well planned out, thought out journey into nursing.

I wasn't going to be a nurse. I'm actually a third generation nurse, and my grandmother,  I was a midwife, my mum was a psych nurse and an ICU nurse, and so I wasn't I was deliberately not going to follow the same pathway, and I was actually going to get into psychology, and so I was doing all my prerequisites in year 11 and 12 to do psychology but then I had this one event, Which happened to me when I was working in the deli in IGA and someone got a cleaning solution in their eye, like a caustic soda type of cleaning solution in their eye.

And I just went into like nurse mode. And then after it, I know this sounds really weird, but like anyone who's done this before afterwards, I was like, I actually feel.  Really empowered by the fact that I knew what to do, because obviously I've come through like a family of medical professionals.

So it was very common for us to talk about non palatable subjects at the dinner table, and first aid was obviously always ingrained in my life  and I realized that I actually wanted to do nursing, like I had something to give when people were in an emergency situation. I had that ability to flick into gear and be able to help and that not everybody has that.

Yeah, so I started exploring nursing and I thought first I would actually do psychiatric nursing, but that would actually play into my interests around psychology and psychiatry. And so I'd actually started, looking into psychiatric nursing, but I. placement in my final year of my undergraduate where they said, Oh, someone's pulled out.

They can't go to the Peds ward. Can you please go? Cause actually where I went and did my placements, no one wanted to go to the Peds ward. And I was like, yeah, that's fine. I'll go to the Peds ward. I found my home. So I was like, Oh, Actually really love working with children. I don't know why I'd never thought about that before.

Cause I've always  gravitated into, wanting to work with children. And then interestingly, we actually had someone come, cause I did my undergraduate in the Golden Valley and we had someone come, they relocated back out to Shepparton. They'd been working in Melbourne in the ICU and she'd moved and gotten married and was now working in the Peds ward.

And she said, you know what, I think you should go and work in the ICU in Melbourne. And just being typical me, I was like, yeah, let's do it. Let's go.  So I relocated with my boyfriend that I'd known for six months at that time to Melbourne and applied to work in the ICU. And there I've been ever since.  So yeah, it's a little bit less planned out and well thought, but I think, similar to you, really found my home, like that professional I don't know that, that word, but when you go and you feel really fulfilled at work and you know that you're able to give back in a way which is really important. And I think I just really followed my instincts in my career things felt right to me, like I felt like that was where I needed to be.

And also.  And I've spoken about this before, when people have said, you should try, I've always said yes. Like I've always gone, yeah, let's give it a try. Let's give it a go. And I think by doing that, I've found so many great experiences and I've been in so many different wonderful situations and had so many different exposures to different types of nursing that it's, yeah, it's been a joy. 

I think it's interesting because all of my mentors in nursing have always described as a calling and you really do feel called to a particular place. And when you find that places is something very special. And it's that sweet spot. I do find it interesting that you really love to site care and you are the ICU guru for a lot of people.

For procedural pain management and, really intrigued in the brain, which I know you have done a lot of work in, in your masters. So I do find that quite interesting that was your beginnings. Anyway, enough about us. We have an incredible guest with us today. We are really.

Privileged to call this person a friend, but also a colleague. So I'd like to just do a little bit of an introduction to Rhiannon, or Rhi, as she is affectionately known. Rhi is a nurse with over 18 years nursing experience in paeds predominantly in medical and respiratory. And she has a real special interest in caring for children with additional needs, such as cerebral palsy, or those with acute or chronic complex medical needs, which is why she's such a perfect.

Fit for peds. She lives with her two children, her husband, and three cats and Kelpie in rural Victoria. Rhi, welcome to the podcast. Can you tell us a little bit about your journey into becoming a nurse?  

Hi, Grace and Sarah. Thanks for having me. I grew up with a lot of younger siblings. My sort of next sister down is 10 years younger than me.

My teenage years, we had a lot of kids around. I started as a gymnastics coach when I was a teenager and thought maybe primary school teaching was where I was going to hit. I did my work experience at a primary school and I realized there was a lot of work outside of school hours.

So I was like, maybe that one wasn't for me. And then later in my teen years, we had a family friend whose daughter was in hospital at the Royal Children's and I remember going in to visit her  and it was the first time I'd ever really been to The Children's Hospital and I thought, I think this might be what I want to do.

So I headed into nursing straight from high school,  didn't really love my nursing degree, to be honest. It was like, yeah, I'm just doing it. Let's get it done, see where it takes me. And then I finally got to do a placement in my third year at the Royal Children's. I spent, I think it was about four weeks there and absolutely loved it.

And realized, oh yeah, nursing is where I want to be and this is where I want to work when I finally finish. So I ended up applying for my grad year at the Children's and got that and haven't left since. So  yeah.  

It has that effect on you, Ree. All of us here are long termers at the Children's Hospital. And that is for very good reason. I think it is a, it's a place that, it grows on you from day dot and there is so many learning opportunities and I think all of us would agree that we're incredibly grateful for the opportunities to expand our careers from an education perspective but also the many different areas in which you can support families and kids.

Are there areas that you have branched out into or have you always been in the same spot?  

I've typically been in the same spot. I've done a little bit here and there, but majority of my time is being spent in the same same ward. I did some neonatal  nursing at a different hospital just as some bank shifts and casual but it wasn't the same.

The children's just has a vibe about it and  quickly stopped that and stayed where I was. 

So tell us a little bit about where you are then, what is your current role and what does like a typical nursing day look for you where you are at the moment?  

So I currently work on a medical and respiratory ward. We care for kids who come in maybe just for a day or two who might be have bronchiolitis or needing some oxygen and some extra feeding support, kids with UTIs. 

I'm needing some intravenous antibiotics but then that's a small part of our ward. And then the other part of our ward is a lot of our long term kids. So some of these kids are with us for many months. We have children with tracheostomies so a breathing tube in their throats. They might be needing some extra breathing support.

We train parents up on how to care for these kids. Sometimes when babies are born and they've had these put in and then it takes, a month or two to teach these parents how to look after their kids at home. We get to do that. And then a lot of our cohort is also a lot of kids with additional needs.

Like cerebral palsy often they come in with chest infections and needing antibiotics and physio.  And some of them will spend, a month or two with us until they're well enough to get home. 

Yeah, that's quite a broad sort of selection of different patients. Isn't it? So is there anything in that mix of what you do that you really love? Would you say. There's any sort of part of that's like really your specialty Sarah was saying before, in the ICU I really got stuck into pain and sedation and the way that kids manage their pain within an intensive care environment because obviously you can just really do deep dives into lots of different conditions or topics and become a little bit of a specialty or specialist or subspecialist in different areas.

You have something, that you would consider yours. 

Yeah, look the respiratory side of things and especially the long term kids. So kids with tracheostomies kids who have  CPAP for sleep, things like that. Things that we can teach a family about. in hospital and know that they're going to get home and they're going to be able to look after them really well because they've learned everything from us.

So that's education part I really enjoy. And then a lot of the kids with additional needs, so their families are just amazing sort of seeing how they adapt to life in the hospital and how we can make things better for them once they get home. They're just amazing.  

We absolutely agree.

All right, Rae, what's your least favorite thing about nursing? 

Oh,  look, shift work's hard. I'm pretty lucky. I typically work the afternoon shift these days. So not too many early mornings, but it means I'm not, not home until late at night. At least 11 at night most evenings. So that's hard.

But the other thing is that working at the Children's, that majority of my friends don't actually live near me. So  I'm one side of the city and most of them are on another side. So I've got some beautiful friends that I've made over the years, but actually catching up with people outside of work is really difficult.

So at the shift work, but then the travel time, it's just really hard. But. We sometimes organize our shifts to work together. So that works. 

We're very crafty nurses. We have various ways  getting around obstacles. Yeah. Innovative is what I'd like to call it.  

Yeah. Also I was just going to say, I love seeing patients outside of.

The hospital as well. So a lot of patients will come in for an outpatient appointment and the parents will bring them up to the hospital. And, because we get to know these kids really well and to see them thriving outside of our, intensive type care, or I've often run into families outside of work.

So at the supermarket and the shops and to see them actually living their everyday life is really great.  

. All so do you have any funny stories that you would like to tell us about nursing? Or any that's that have happened within your nursing career?

Look, I'm look, there's obviously a lot of stories. But one that I thought I might share is actually my story. Son, when he was little we were at home, he was about 10 months old. And I feel like this kind of falls more into the peds bracket than my other job, but he managed to find a 10 cent coin on the floor and we were in our bedroom and he was sitting on the floor and I turned around and we noticed that he was choking.

And it was all very sudden. And I think that when you're a nurse, you're so used to having your backup. Yeah. Around you press an emergency buzzer and you've got four or five nurses immediately in your room. You've got oxygen and suction but to put yourself in a position where all my friends aren't here to help and he was choking he was turning blue My husband immediately jumped on the phone to call the ambulance and while I delivered his back blows and thankfully after about 30 seconds, we managed to dislodge that 10 cent coin and he was okay.

But I think it just shows that, no one is immune to all these little things happening. And yes, I had the background of, what to do, but it was still very nerve wracking as a parent. So you put yourself in a parent's shoes and it's always a little bit different. 

. I remember coming home with my first child and just being really unnerved by the fact that I didn't have any suction, like wall suction. It just really unnerved me.

And I remember saying to my husband, I was like, I just feel uncomfortable that there's no suction in this house. And he's,  and I think it's just because that was my first child and like all the children, the newborns and things that I've really had dealt with up until that point, we'd had suction around.

And so that just was something I had to get my head around that and like that I couldn't monitor them. Like I couldn't. Put them on a monitor and just, once I'd put them off to sleep, have just some OBS to look at just to, like it was something to get my head around in the early parenting phase.

We did the ICU myself.  

I was going to say, I think that's every nurse when it comes to winter, isn't it? Like, when our kids have colds and coughs and colds and snotty noses, bronchiolitis, we're like, where is the suction catheter? They certainly didn't have those electric nasal aspirators where my kids when I first started having children, but they're deeply satisfying.

It's a little bit like being in, back in the ICU. So yeah, we agree, Grace. Wholeheartedly. 

Amazing. Thank you so much, Rhi, for chatting with us today. It's been really nice to hear a little bit more about your journey into nursing and what you really love about being a nurse. And yeah, just really lovely to be able to share some sort of background insights into, all the different roles of nurses that are out there that look after children because it is such a varied profession and there are so many different pathways for nurses.

Once you join the wonderful profession that we are.  

Thanks guys, it was really nice to be here.  

And if you would like to catch Rhi in real life, don't take your children to the children's hospital just for that. But if you have a child with complex medical conditions, Rhi is one of our beautiful trainers.

So you may have the privilege of having Rhi train you as a parent or carer. Thanks so much Rhi for joining us.  Thanks guys. 

 Well, everyone, that's it for today. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of Pete's Small Talk. If you love this episode, we'd be so grateful if you left a review, subscribe to our podcast, and follow us on social media, where you are guaranteed to find life saving tips and tricks for keeping your little ones safe.

See you next time.