Community Nurse retires after 50 years of caring
After an extraordinary 50-year nursing career dedicated to caring for others, Barb Wiltshire is hanging up her uniform as she retires from her role as a Community Nurse with Bellarine
Community Health (BCH).
At 68, Barb has touched countless lives throughout her remarkable journey in healthcare, spending her final 15 years with BCH. Her retirement marks the end of an era for both BCH and the many clients who have benefited from her expertise and warm, compassionate approach to nursing.
Barb’s nursing story began in 1975 when she started her training at the Royal Children’s Hospital, following her childhood dream of working with babies and young children. Moving from Donald, in country Victoria, she completed a four-year course that included three years at the Royal Children’s Hospital and one year at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
“Originally I wanted to work with babies and young children, but I was encouraged to do general nursing,” Barb reflects. Good advice as Barb’s 50-year career has seen her work in hospitals, aged care, medical clinics and eventually community health, and all of that while juggling the demands of raising four children.
“Our nursing here at Bellarine Community Health is one of the best you can get,” Barb says with pride. She particularly values the supportive culture among the nursing team: “BCH nurses are very supportive of each other, nothing’s too much trouble for any of the nurses. There’s so much support – if you’re stuck or busy, anyone will help.”
As a senior nurse at BCH, Barb has found joy in mentoring younger colleagues. “I’m the oldest nurse at BCH and there’s lots of younger nurses, and I love them because they’re about the same age as my children. I just feel like I can relate to them so much, which is wonderful. I think it keeps me young – we have lots of chats that I do enjoy.”
Barb says she will miss the variety and challenge that community nursing brings. “I love the variety of being a community nurse because we have to have every skill. We do palliative care, we give medication, support people with showering, deal with complex dressings and wounds, and IV monitoring. Every day you get thrown something different, and you think, ‘oh what am I going to do here?’ It makes it interesting, and I will miss that.”
Barb is passionate about the value of community health services, believing strongly that “people heal 100% better at home than in the hospital.” She says the community health model places importance on building relationships with clients: “After that first visit, they feel safe with us. They come out of hospital, and they’re stressed or not eating or sleeping properly, and we can provide reassurance.”
Community Nursing and Palliative Care Manager Jacob Miller says Barb has been a steady presence who will be greatly missed. “Barb brings wisdom, warmth, and a great sense of humour to everything she does. She’s been a huge support to so many of us, and she’s told me just how much she values being part of this team, which she called the most supportive and wonderful group she’s worked with. High praise from someone with a career as long and meaningful as hers!”
As she prepares for retirement, Barb’s says she will miss the relationships she’s built over the years: “I will miss the company of all the nursing team at BCH because I just love them, and I will miss my clients because there’s a few that I have been looking after for quite a while. You don’t realize how important you are to these people, because you are chatting to them the whole time you are with them, and you develop a relationship.”
The entire BCH community extends heartfelt thanks to Barb for her half-century of dedicated nursing service and wishes her a well-deserved and joyful retirement.
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