Nurses and health service staff who've helped care for more than 200,000 patients at Dubbo Hospital during the past two decades celebrated a special milestone on Friday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A morning tea was held to mark 20 years of Dubbo's Hospital's General (G) Ward, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and paediatrics and emergency departments operating in their current locations.
"Back then that was a massive thing for Dubbo," nursing director Jenny Johnson said.
"In those 20 years we've already outgrown what was built back then," she said.
"When I came back to nursing almost 20 years ago, G Ward was my first ward, I was there for two years and I absolutely loved it."
Mrs Johnson said G Ward was "almost always full" with 30 patients a day who were grateful for the care they received.
"Over the years there's been lots and lots of people in our community who have received fantastic care because they've been in G Ward...there's always flowers and chocolates from grateful families," she said.
"There's a comradery among nurses that has always been there and it's really evident in places like G Ward.
"It is tough, it is heavy nursing, it's physically taxing but I think if you work together as a team it makes a hard job easier.
"Everyone has a sense of pride in their job here, that's what really stands out."
Nurse Rosalyn Shipp has worked on G Ward for 20 years and at Dubbo Hospital for 46 years.
Most nights, from 9.30pm to 7.30am, she is there caring for patients.
"I've done that [night shifts] for 28 years," Mrs Shipp said.
"I've made lots of lifelong friends from nursing and I love it, i'm just not ready to retire."
Mrs Shipp joined past and present colleagues to reflect on the rapid changes that have occurred during the past 20 years.
"In the early years everything was done manually; the blood pressure, shaking the thermometer. Some of those things were good in those days," Mrs Shipp recalled.
"I'm a bit computer illiterate but I find them very good.
"I'm not a person for change but I've adapted."
After the morning tea, past and present staff shared more memories and celebrated at a party at the Garden Hotel.
