If you’ve ever needed to visit a hospital in Young or across the region, there’s a good chance you’ve met June James.
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June recently celebrated 50 years with NSW Health, specifically the Murrumbidgee Local Health District, with a special morning tea.
June’s career in nursing didn’t exactly start the way she planned.
“When I left school in Year 10, I had it in my mind to become a nurse, but at the time I was too young. I did a full 12 months secretarial course through TAFE in 1967, after that I was secretary to the CEO of Sacred Heart, which is now the Mercy Care” she said.
“I like to be up and active. I’m an outdoors person if I’m not at work and I didn’t like sitting down all day, so that’s when I decided to go into nursing.”
When June first started working in both hospitals in Young, she says nursing was a different world.
“Nursing then was very different, it was hands on and you were on your feet, moving around constantly,” she said.
“There were no lifters, there was no lift policies, we heaved and lifted and did what we could.”
June said one of her favourite memories during her 50 year tenure was the opportunity to work in Wellington where she spent a number of years in obstetrics, taking care of premature babies.
“I did obstetrics and neo-natal care and I really love that area,” she said.
“In any area of nursing you get your sad cases, but normally, 99 per cent of the time, obstetrics is a happy occasion.”
She also did stints in Harden/Murrumburrah, Cootamundra, Temora and had permanent part time work at Cowra during the late 1980s.
The late 1990’s saw June hurt her back, requiring three months off work and ending up in a wheelchair.
“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t use my left leg and I still had two kids in high school, so it wasn’t a good feeling,” she said.
June then had to accept that she could no longer perform the duties of a nurse and in 2000, accepted a clerical job within NSW Health.
“When they took me off nursing, I could have seven days straight, it wouldn’t be two days in a row where I was in the same place, I could be ward clerk, I could assist in theater, anything that wasn't heavy manual work,” she said.
Today June works in medical records and says the best part of working in any hospital is the opportunity for contact with different people and working a variety of jobs.
