A valued member of the Orange Hospital Staff has retired after serving 11 years as the Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Orange Heath Service and 42 years in nursing.

Sue Patterson first started her career in nursing at 18 years old and she has loved every minute of it.

“You have such special moments with patients and families at times of utmost joy and utmost sadness and there is nothing that compares to that. It is a privilege to be a part of that.

Sue went to nurses’ training at Royal Prince Alfred and she talks about how things have changed over the years in nursing.

“When I first started nursing was very disciplined. You couldn’t do anything without the approval of matron and you couldn’t be married, you had to be home at 10pm at night, they had curfews on everything. You were very much seen as a second party in the delivery of care and I have to say that the professionalism of nursing over the years has certainly made nurses on an equal par with doctors and allied health which is wonderful to see that everyone has equal standing of how care is delivered.

Sue first started work in Sydney and says retiring from a much-loved career was hard and required a bit of an adjustment.

“The thing I miss at the moment is the phone not going off all of the time because they would just ring you if something happened. It will take a bit to get used to, but I am still on the board for the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service to keep my mind active and current with health. I am also going to do some accreditation surveys for hospitals.

Read more about Sue’s story  in Orange City Life August 16 issue