anaesthetic and recovery nurse

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     MAEVE BLAKE

“In ICU, you don’t get the luxury of feeling tired, running on autopilot.”

I’m a Division 1 nurse working at the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Although my mum was a nurse, it was never something I was interested in doing when I was young. After school, I got into hospitality, working in bars and restaurants. Having a dual Irish passport, I travelled to Ireland and lived there a few years, doing odd jobs – but mainly hospitality.

It was a lot of fun for a while, but eventually, I looked around me and thought ‘Do I really want to be a fifty-year old waitress, working nights and weekends? This is going to get old real quick’. So I came back to Australia. Continue reading →

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     RIYAD ALADASSI

“The worst thing was the ugly feeling of impotence. When you can’t save a life.”

I am an anaesthetic and recovery nurse at Epworth Private Hospital.

Born in Kuwait, I am a third generation Palestinian refugee. We came to Gaza when my father had an accident which left him a quadriplegic. So from early childhood, I became used to performing nursing tasks, looking after my dad. My dream then was to become a neurosurgeon and operate on my dad to heal him.

After school, I started seeking medical scholarships abroad, as there weren’t any  medical schools in Gaza. But my father expressed a desire that I stay by his side, and I obeyed, letting my dream go. Instead, I went to an American Baptist missionary school in Gaza to study nursing. Continue reading →