“I call it my soul work”
International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Florence Nightingale was a British nurse who is considered the founder of modern nursing.
Real Living villages have many nurses among her residents, and they all share a passion for caring that we’re all grateful for. Today we would like to pay tribute to this honourable profession by telling the story of Nell, one of our newest residents at Epsom Village.
When she was very young, Nell told her Mum that she wanted to be a nurse. Her Mum looked at her open-mouthed: “I don’t know how you think you’re going to be a nurse; you can’t stand the sight of blood!”. This didn't stop her, and Nell followed her dreams, and she ended up working as a practising nurse all her life, in Wellington, Hamilton, Rotorua and Auckland. Nell loved her job, and she has very fond memories of the time she worked in the Intensive Care Baby Nursery at Waikato Hospital.
At the end of her career, Nell worked nine years at the Mercy Hospice, a very intense and rewarding experience that she will always cherish: “I call it my soul work, because you have to be able to give a lot of yourself, but you get tenfold what you offer”.
In her time at the Hospice, she liked the opportunity to be involved with the patient as well as the family and she still remembers many of the family members she was lucky to meet along the way. “In my experience at Mercy Hospice I learned how sometimes those patients who were the wealthiest were in reality the poorest, and the opposite. I met very poor people who were so generous, and they wanted to offer you whatever they had.”
Besides nursing, Nell’s other lifetime passion has been the world of sports. She’s played cricket, tennis, squash and on top of all of them, she played golf for thirty years. She enjoyed participating in golf tournaments where she would meet people she would have not met otherwise. Any movies that she has enjoyed recently? Of course, she recommends “The Phantom of the Open”, a British biographical comedy-drama about Maurice Flitcroft, who managed to gain entry to the British Open Golf Championship Qualifying in 1976 despite being a complete amateur.
Nell has always played sports because her father always encouraged her to do so. As a spectator, she’s a big fan of horseracing. She was a member of the Ellerslie Racing Club, and she has attended the Melbourne Cup with her children twice.
At Epsom Village, Nell enjoys playing Mah Jong and participating in some of the social events. Last year Epsom Village organised a Fashion Parade with the participation of some residents as the “international models”. The village asked Nell to volunteer as a model and she was very kind to agree even if she had never done anything like that before.
“I did it because I love clothes, but it was so nerve-racking. I was so anxious going down those stairs!”
Epsom Village is very grateful that she accepted the proposal to model as she did an outstanding job. Another example that a nurse never stops being a nurse and their kindness extends to all aspects of their life.
If you’d like to know more about joining our community contact Lyn on 021 845 524 or email Lyn.Ellis@realliving.co.nz
