A renal clinical nurse coach who has spent years empowering nurses behind the scenes has claimed a major Sunshine Coast Health award.
Recognised for her commitment to education and practice improvement, Melissa Roberts was named Nurse of the Year for playing a pivotal role in strengthening support for staff, students and graduates across the renal service from Caloundra to Gympie.
“I was very shocked,” she said.
“I think I don’t give myself a lot of credit. I have worked very hard over the last couple of years in this role but I am a believer that all nurses work very, very hard so I wish I could give a little piece of the award to everyone.
“But I’m very grateful and it is really nice to be recognised at such a high level.”
Ms Roberts supports new and existing staff and students through onboarding, dialysis training, professional development and more.
“It’s quite a highly skilled area and it’s quite an extensive induction period because you’re in charge of this machine that can do a lot for the patient, so we go into a lot of detail about the science and everything behind dialysis and what it is, and then my role is to basically encourage staff to independently do that, still with support of the unit,” she said.
“It’s all about not taking over. You don’t give them fish to eat, you teach them how to fish and, hopefully, off they go, and they feel empowered and confident to go onto their nursing journey.”
Ms Roberts started her nursing career as a graduate at Nambour Hospital’s renal unit in 2018 and quickly found her passion in dialysis care.
“I had very little understanding about what it was,” she said.
“I had never had a placement there, I didn’t really know what to expect and then I loved it.
“I’ve tried many different little things throughout the last eight years as a nurse, and I’ve always come back to renal and dialysis because the lifestyle is amazing, the hours are great, it’s a really close-knit team and you really get to know the patients.
“Some of these patients have been on dialysis 20 something years, so over your lifetime as a nurse you get to know the patients really well and get to build a really great, professional relationship with them.”
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Ms Roberts said the best part of her role was “when I start to see staff members start to flourish”.
“If we’ve worked really hard on certain tasks or skills and you start to see it click, and then three months down the track they’re just the most amazing nurse and you feel that little bit of proudness that you were a part of their journey,” she said.
The Sunshine Coast Health Nursing and Midwifery Awards are held annually between International Day of the Midwife (May 5) and International Nurses Day (May 12) to recognise the more than 4600 nurses and midwives who work across the health service.
Winners – Nurse: clinical nurse coach Melissa Roberts; midwife: clinical midwife consultant Emma Turner; graduate nurse: Opal Harrison; graduate midwife: Annaleise Smith; assistant in nursing: Vanessa Starky; enrolled nurse: Chantelle Lister; nursing and midwifery leadership: reflective practice coordinator Chris Dawber; and Cathy Styles Memorial Award for emerging midwifery leader: registered midwife Courtney Lawler.
