NURSES at the Leeton District Hospital are a cut above, so, with this in mind, The Irrigator will be profiling these staff members throughout the coming months to hear their stories and why they chose this career path.
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Name: Sharon Oram, enrolled nurse
SHARON Oram started nursing in 1976 and has worked at the Leeton District Hospital and Carramar for her entire career.
When deciding what she wanted to do as a career, Mrs Oram first thought of teaching, but then decided nursing was something she was more interested in.
In those days she wasn’t required to attend university as much of the training and learning was done on the job, but she had to undergo plenty of theory and study work, as well as exams.
“I’ve had a few breaks when I had children, I came back casually in 1991 and went full-time about 2000, 2001,” Mrs Oram said.
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“I’m in Carramar full-time now.
“I love it. The first day of nursing was definitely an eye opener, but it pulls you in.”
Mrs Oram has seen many changes over the year, not just at the hospital, but in the roles nurses play each day.
She said there were many highlights of the job, but she couldn’t go past the patients.
“Really the best part of the job is you get satisfaction out of helping people and seeing people get better when they are really sick,” Mrs Oram said.
“You become like a family with the staff, but with the residents (at Carramar) as well.”
With nursing being such a taxing role, there are bound to be down sides to the job.
Mrs Oram said the hardest part about being a nurse also related to the patients.
“When you lose a patient and they pass over, it’s like losing a part of your family,” she said.
“It doesn’t get any easier either.”
Shift work can also be hard on nurses, which Mrs Oram said sometimes was difficult.
With nurses roles continually changing and growing, Mrs Oram is hopeful more young women and men consider it as a career.
“There’s a lot of older nurses who can’t be here forever, but it is a great career,” she said.
“You do get a lot of satisfaction out of your job.”
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