International Nurses Day: Our Nurse Leaders Share Their Stories

International Nurses Day is celebrated annually on 12 May coinciding with the birth of Florence Nightingale, who is regarded as the founder of modern nursing. This year, the International Nurses Day 2023 theme is ‘Our Nurses. Our Future.’  

As the International Council of Nurses notes, “it is now time to look to the future and demonstrate what these investments will mean for nursing and healthcare. The Our Nurses. Our Future campaign will shine the light on nurses and a brighter future.” Thus, we took the opportunity to interview some of our nurse leaders within The Salvation Army so that they could share their wisdom.    

Colleen Fitz-Gerald, the Clinical Learning Specialist within the Care Quality and Compliance team, is a Registered Nurse of over 37 years. “I have so much variety in everything that I am doing,” she says. “From training and supporting Care Service Employees, up to training, supporting and mentoring managers.”  

Colleen experiences great reward in her role, too. “What I love most about my role is the big variation of people I get to meet, and work with and then hearing their responses. Because I’m in education and training, I get to see those light bulb moments.”  

Margaret Williams, the Clinical Policy Lead, also with the Care Quality and Compliance team, began working as a Registered Nurse over 27 years ago. Since then, Margaret has had extensive experience within the sector, commenting, “I have completed further studies in Education, Quality, Management and Training and Assessment. I love to learn and keep my skills current and relevant for the position I am in.”  

For Margaret, leadership means having the ability, “to enable staff to perform their best, feel supported and know they are not alone,” she says. “I am passionate about ensuring I provide staff with information that enables them to provide high quality best practice care. I think consistently what I find most inspiring is other nurses – their resilience, kindness and ability to work as a team.”  

Whilst Fiona Sanders’ role as the General Manager of Salvos Home Care is more managerial in nature, she notes that the principles of nursing are still embedded in how she manages her team. “Certainly that critical thinking and empathetic approach, has stayed with me, over the 40 something years since I started nursing,” she says and of her skills gained in nursing.   

When considering a career in nursing, Fiona highlights the sense of teamwork. “I think it’s a really wonderful career; the opportunities are endless,” she explains. “There’s great camaraderie within the nursing professions, there always has been and it’s been a wonderful career for me.” 

For those who are just starting out as a nurse, Fiona explains the importance leaning on your fellow nurses for support. “There’s always somebody to talk to, so it’s really important to make sure that you reach out to others and that you talk and take opportunities to debrief,” she stated. “Take care of yourself while you’re taking care of others.” 

Andrea Mabalo, a Residential Aged Care Area Manager, also started her career as a Registered Nurse in 2003, even working as a Professor of Nursing at a university in the Philippines before migrating to Australia.  

When considering her experience, Andrea states, “I have worked as a Registered Nurse on the floor in Aged Care since 2010. Two years later, I had my first Care Manager Role and a year later was a Centre Manager.” 

Andrea notes that the most inspiring thing about nursing is caring for others. “You can be a bedside nurse, a nurse manager, a professor, a consultant but in the end, the inspiration is personal satisfaction that stems from your passion to care for others.”