Jenny Johnson took 16 years off nursing to raise her four children before hitting the floor of G ward in 2000.

Her trajectory to the top nursing job at the hospital has been the result of further study, wide-ranging experience at the coalface of care and a passion for her profession.

“There are just so many opportunities in nursing,” she said from her office in nurse administration.

“I just think it’s the best career you can have.” 

As director of nursing, Ms Johnson’s goal is to “improve patient outcomes with the resources we have” while staying in touch with her 350 nurses.

“I think I know most of them because I’ve worked amongst them for a long time,” she said.

“I’m very conscious of that sometime disconnect between executive level and nursing staff and I don’t want that barrier to be there. I want to be visible and accessible.” 

The director reports of her “fantastic team” at Dubbo Base Hospital, one that has invested much personal time in helping plan for its almost $80 million stage one and two redevelopment.

“I’ve noticed changes in the past, say, two or three years,” Ms Johnson said.

“It’s a much nicer place to work. I think there is an improvement in the culture here.” 

Jenny Johnson took her first breath at Bourke and grew up on a property at Wanaaring where the Royal Flying Doctor Service called in twice a month.

After attending boarding school in Bathurst she trained as a nurse at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital.

The next decade was spent moving about Australia with a husband working in the construction industry, holding down a few nursing positions and starting a family.

In the late 1980s the family bought a farm near Dubbo and expanded by two.

Four children kept Ms Johnson busy until the eldest child started university and her mother felt the twinges of a career rebirth.

“I did a refresher course through the College of Nursing and came to work here in G Ward and just absolutely loved it,” she said.

A couple of years later she was “hooked” after completing an introduction to emergency nursing course.

Ms Johnson moved to the hospital’s emergency department, completed a Graduate Certificate in Emergency Nursing and embraced responsibility and opportunity.

For a while she managed both the emergency and intensive care units before taking on the position of after-hours nurse manager at the hospital.

Secondment by the Western NSW Local Health District to the position of manager of its entire nurse workforce proved “good grounding” for her return to Dubbo Base Hospital as acting director of nursing.

This month Ms Johnson was named permanent director of nursing, a title she never imagined would be hers when she went back to nursing.

“I’ve never ever wanted to do anything else but nursing,” she said.

“I didn’t realise how much I missed it until I came back.

Ms Johnson has traded the satisfaction of “working on the floor” for a managerial role through which she hopes to “really make a difference”.