International Nurses Day – Emma Drysdale

PRIDE IN NURSING

With Evolution Healthcare

At Evolution Healthcare we couldn’t be prouder of our exceptionally talented team – and the backbone of that team are our wonderful nurses.

Like us, they’re committed to continuing excellence in the health and wellbeing of the people in our care. That’s why we’d love to introduce you to Emma Drysdale, one of our highly skilled surgical ward nurses at Royston Hospital, who – alongside the diversity and demands of her role – speaks about her pride in being a nurse.

“Nursing is about much more than being alert and caring, it’s about developing a real intuition for a patient’s needs and trying to anticipate those.”

That’s especially the case for Emma whose challenging role involves monitoring patients immediately after major operations.

“Their condition can be very volatile, and they can deteriorate quickly, so often the responsibility to make urgent calls falls on our shoulders as nurses. You have people’s lives in your hands, so you take it extremely seriously.

“Yes, it’s hard, demanding work, but then again you have such a positive impact on people’s experience while they’re in hospital, that the rewards outweigh those demands,” says Emma. 

“Patients also share their concerns more with nurses, so you become an important advocate for them,” she says. “That’s important to us.”

But sometimes the little things are just as important.

“I had one patient whose short-term memory loss was really increasing the stress of his recovery. But because we’re very fortunate to have such good amenities and resources at Royston, simply being able to offer him extra cups of tea or a special dinner made a significant difference to his stay with us. Those little things can really count.”

The diversity of roles her nursing career has provided is another source of pride for Emma. She’s worked in many different specialty areas before discovering her calling as a surgical nurse.

“Regardless of the area you’re in, teamwork is always key, and Evolution Healthcare is very good in fostering this,” says Emma. “And working alongside many like-minded team mates at Royston Hospital means many of them have become my good friends, which is an added comfort in a high-pressure job like nursing.”

Evolution Healthcare is a leading provider of healthcare services in New Zealand. Our group has six hospitals, five specialist day hospitals, a maternity hospital, and a range of specialist health and wellbeing services.