INTERNATIONAL Nurses Day will be celebrated across generations at Craigie nursing home MercyVille as 89-year-old retired nurse Doreen Chapman reminisces with the home’s nurses.
Held annually on May 12 – Florence Nightingale’s birthday – MercyVille will mark the occasion with morning tea.
Mrs Chapman trained as a mature-age student in her 40s, alongside her daughter, before becoming a district nurse in her hometown of Southampton in the UK.
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“I was working as an orderly at Southampton Hospital when my ward sister suggested that I go and do my nurse training,” she said.
“It was very special training to become a nurse with my daughter and after I qualified I soon gained a role in the community as a district nurse, which I loved.
“It was so incredibly rewarding and I developed really strong relationships with my patients as well as getting to know their families really well.”
Mrs Chapman moved to Perth with her husband after they initially travelled to the country overland from the UK in their renovated campervan.
MercyVille service manager Alison Devonport said MercyVille was fortunate to have a team of devoted nurses.
“Residents like Doreen have spent their lives caring for others and International Nurses Day is a great opportunity to recognise what they have done for others during their lives,” she said.