Our Stories

Annette Goudy has worked for Calvary Home Care for nearly seven years as a community nurse providing both home and acute care support to a range of clients throughout metropolitan Adelaide.

According to Calvary Adelaide Home Care Service Manager, Ms Jenna Garvie, Annette is “the loveliest nurse” who is always willing to go the extra mile for her patients, and her direct Manager, Clinical Team Leader, Bec Bailey agrees wholeheartedly.

  “Ms Goudy has that strong combination of warmth and friendliness that puts her clients at ease,” Ms Garvie said.
 “She doesn’t rush them, is willing to listen and can always escalate appropriately if the situation warrants it.
 “Community nursing through home care requires a delicate balance of skills, but empathy, likeability and a kind nature go a long way to supporting our clients in their homes.
 “Despite whatever health challenges they may face, we try to make them feel understood and valued.”

Calvary Home Care sees a range of clients who through either injury, disease or age-relate concerns require specific nursing assistance in the home in lieu of hospitalisation.
 
Ms Goudy won the Mary Potter Award for Healing in SA two years ago, demonstrating her ability to provide nursing care with a compassionate heart and the regular compliments Ms Garvie receives from Ms Goudy’s clients support this.
 

According to Ms Goudy she is simply just doing her job.

   “Community nursing is a privilege as you are able to care for people in their own home,” she said.
 “My aim is to make people feel comfortable and cared for. Home nursing extends from acute nursing to chronic, assessments, preventative care and home support. It provides care to a diverse range of ages and needs.”
 

Ms Goudy says she loves this type of nursing and visiting clients in their homes.

  “The rapport and the relationships make my work very rewarding. I meet lovely people who are grateful for the care they are receiving,” she said.
“I am able to fulfil my role due to the support of my wonderful managers and colleagues. Nursing is about the nursing team which works together to provide the best possible care. I am thankful for my role as a Registered Nurse. It is a very rewarding job,” she said.

Ms Garvie says home care support has evolved over the years and is an important service from Calvary that provides essential nursing care where it is needed, in the home.
 
“We rely on the professionalism of nurses such as Annette, who every day make a difference to people’s healing and recovery in their homes,” she said.

International Day for Nurses celebrates the wonderful work all nurses do in a range of different settings, and Calvary thanks Ms Goudy and every nurse for their ongoing contributions to providing care to all Calvary patients, clients and residents.

For the past year Kaila has been a graduate nurse at Calvary St Luke’s Hospital in Launceston, and now she is one of the faces you may come across if you happen to be a patient having surgery. 

After completing a Bachelor of Nursing at University of Tasmania, Kaila chose to do her graduate year placement at Calvary, spending six months on a ward and six months in recovery and anaesthetics.

   I chose Calvary because the graduate nurse program is a lot more supportive than what you would experience at the public hospital,” Kaila said.

It’s great, you get more study days, which when you are learning are so important, and the resources around us at Calvary are great, including there being a lot more experienced nurses to work with.”

Kaila was inspired to be a nurse by her grandmother, who was a midwife, and her aunt, who was a nurse in the Australian army, and now she has the aspirational nurse educators and senior staff at Calvary St Luke’s spurring her on.

  When I started here in my graduate year I had a mix of anxiety and excitement, but after the year I have had at Calvary, I’ve agreed to stay on in theatres to learn more,” Kaila said.