A nurse caring for people facing the sometimes daunting challenges of surgery has been recognised for her work at St John of God Bendigo Hospital.
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Associate nurse unit manager Siobhan Sullivan was awarded the St John of God Award at a ceremony last week.
“It was a shock and a surprise. I’m very humbled and honoured by the award. There’s a lot of people who have done more than me,” she said.
Mrs Sullivan began working with St John’s in 2012 as a perioperative nurse.
Her job was to look after surgical patients from the time they came into the hospital until they time they left.
She was currently based in the day surgery unit.
“I work in theatres, recovery and anesthetics. I do that in day surgery as well, though I’m more in a leadership role there,” she said.
St John of God director of mission Denis Byrne said Mrs Sullivan was one of 14 candidates nominated by fellow caregivers, members of the auxiliary and volunteers.
“Staff and volunteers can nominate those who they think exhibit our (organisation’s) values, our mission and our action,” he said.
“We’ve got five values: hospitality, justice, respect, excellence and compassion.
“Siobhan exhibits those values every encounter that she has, with every person, whether that be a patient, their family or another staff member.”
Mr Byrne said Mrs Sullivan was very person-focused and had undertaken further study to develop leadership skills.
Those who nominated Mrs Sullivan did so in part because she was calm, compassionate and respectful in her dealings with people.
They said she was always looking for new ways to add to St John of God’s mission, including championing initiatives in her unit and reaching out to others during fundraisers and through events like the hospital’s Christmas Eve Mass.
Mr Byrne said having people like Mrs Sullivan on staff was “gold” and it was important to develop their skills.
“One of the things we talk about at St John of God is distinctive care … we provide lots of training and support (to help staff do that), not just orientation,” he said.