FOLLOWING in her mother and both her grandmother’s footsteps, Hamilton Medical Group (HMG) lead nurse, Katie Shepherd always knew she wanted to pursue a career in nursing - even in kinder, she would dress up as a nurse.

While completing her training at Ballarat University, Katie did her placement in Hamilton, where she met her husband.

She then worked as a graduate nurse at Hamilton Base Hospital, before taking a permanent role at HMG, which she said better suited her family commitments.

“I just love nursing here, it’s a different environment than the hospital, but I just can’t see myself doing anything else,” she said.

According to Katie, nursing in regional areas, specifically at HMG, has always been a dynamic job where you can do anything from assisting doctors, to flu clinics, stitches, plasters, and triage, but the last two years of COVID-19 was something she could never have imagined.

“COVID, especially in the first twelve months, was just hectic,” she said.

“You know you’re trying to protect everyone in here, you’re trying to protect society, you’re running flu clinics and COVID clinics run.

“You get a lot of people upset that they can’t get what they want, so you’re trying to appease everyone.

“In here it was just hectic trying to screen everybody, again you (have) some people that get quite aggressive at the front desk which was really hard for the girls, and I don’t think the reception staff get enough credit for what they had to endure as well.”

Katie said by the time patients got to the nursing staff, they had already let out their frustration on the reception staff, meaning the nurses did not “cop it as much”.

She said the reception staff, who were on the front line during the height of the pandemic, have not received as much appreciation as they should, and while this interview was about nurses, the reception staff were as deserving of acknowledgment and gratitude on this important day today – International Nurses Day.

Staff shortages has presented an added challenge for HMG, who often struggle to find enough people to cover shifts.

While Katie said the clinic had recently employed two new nurses, the demand for staff remained as high as ever.