Speaker 1: Appogia production.
Speaker 2: Hi everyone, thank you for tuning back into Tenantus for Nurses.
Speaker 2: I suspec Woodbine here this season. I am so excited
Speaker 2: to announce that the podcast is being supported by Nutritia,
Speaker 2: which is a global leader in medical nutrition. They understand
Speaker 2: the needs of nurses in the nutrition space and for
Speaker 2: over one hundred and twenty five years have provided products
Speaker 2: to support child health. Some of Nutrita's pediatric brands include
Speaker 2: Neo Kate Junior for children who have food allergies and
Speaker 2: app to Grow for those fussy eaters. And those of
Speaker 2: us who have children know many kids who go through
Speaker 2: the phases of definite fussiness. For more information and resources,
Speaker 2: visit the nutritiona Pediatrics hub at nutritia dot com dot
Speaker 2: au forward slash Pediatrics. I just want to say a
Speaker 2: huge thank you to Nutritia. Their desire to support nurses
Speaker 2: is truly appreciated, and they are allowing me to continue
Speaker 2: this podcast so that we could all grow as nurses.
Speaker 2: This season, we have some amazing speakers in the pediatric
Speaker 2: space which I cannot wait to share with you all. Hi,
Speaker 2: my name's Beck Woodbine and welcome to Tenderness for nurses.
Speaker 2: I'm grateful for the person that I have the opportunity
Speaker 2: to be.
Speaker 1: So I hit it and parked it for Nellie four years.
Speaker 2: We always have free will, We always get to choose.
Speaker 2: We are autonomous. Hi everyone, thank you for tuning in
Speaker 2: too Tenderness for Nurses Again. Today we have a really
Speaker 2: fantastic Part A and Part B podcast. Today I am
Speaker 2: interviewing Georgia Callahan from Donate Life and she is the
Speaker 2: donation Specialist Nursing Coordinator DAN in Victoria. And then we
Speaker 2: are speaking with Justine Holloway, who is the acting Nurse
Speaker 2: Services Manager for Donate Life Victoria. Thank you Georgie for
Speaker 2: taking the time to chat with.
Speaker 1: Me today, No worry, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2: So can you just give us a little bit of
Speaker 2: background on you and your nursing career state.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I've been a nurse for about fourteen or
Speaker 1: fifteen years now. I actually grew up in Adelaide where
Speaker 1: I did all of my undergraduate study, and part of
Speaker 1: that I really fell in love with critical care nursing.
Speaker 1: So I first started working in a small ed and
Speaker 1: from that I did a bit of postgrad where they
Speaker 1: offered me the opportunity to go up to the intensive
Speaker 1: care unit to just, I suppose further develop my critical
Speaker 1: care skills and did about six weeks up there, and
Speaker 1: during that time I felt quite nervous. There were lots
Speaker 1: of beats that was really scary, and wasn't quite sure
Speaker 1: if that was the place for me, and had always
Speaker 1: thought that i'd probably stay back down in emergency. And
Speaker 1: then in that sort of last week, it all kind
Speaker 1: of clicked for me and I just really fell in
Speaker 1: love with intensive care nursing, so I did a graduate
Speaker 1: diploma in that. When decided I wanted to develop my
Speaker 1: skills in a bigger ICU that had a few different
Speaker 1: specialties that we didn't have in the same way in Adelaide,
Speaker 1: which is how I ended up working at the outfit
Speaker 1: in their intensive care unit, and I started there back
Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, and from that really just started at
Speaker 1: the bedside, predominantly working with cardiac patients, as that was
Speaker 1: a bit of a specialty in the unit I was
Speaker 1: working in in Adelaide. As a result of that, started
Speaker 1: working with some people waiting for their transplants and then
Speaker 1: after their transplant operations as well, and that was an
Speaker 1: incredibly powerful thing for me to see just how significantly
Speaker 1: people's lives could change just through the power of being
Speaker 1: a transplant recipient. Really, and then as I progressed through
Speaker 1: the ICU, I sort of started doing a bit more
Speaker 1: in charge and became an ANUM then actually ended up
Speaker 1: working as an ANAM in the trauma ICU. So during
Speaker 1: that stint, I really then got to see the other side.
Speaker 1: So patients who were admitted under very sort of unexpected
Speaker 1: and often traumatic circumstances after they'd been in accidents, and
Speaker 1: throughout their journey of care, if we were unable to
Speaker 1: get them back to a good level of health and
Speaker 1: a meaningful recovery, then unfortunately they would be transitioning to
Speaker 1: end of life care. And then from that being part
Speaker 1: of those end of life discussions, and then potential patients
Speaker 1: going for organ donation, just seeing sort of that full
Speaker 1: spectrum of that donation and transplantation journey and then really
Speaker 1: developing a passion for end of life care. And that's
Speaker 1: how I sort of then transitioned into working in organ
Speaker 1: donation as a result of that and being able to
Speaker 1: learn how to support families through a bit of a
Speaker 1: different process related to end of life care.
Speaker 2: Was that a specialized education for you to go into
Speaker 2: end of life care and into the orgation side of things,
Speaker 2: or was that just something you segued into quite seamlessly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So there's no further sort of formalized education you
Speaker 1: do in the specialization of I suppose end of life
Speaker 1: care or organ donation in particular. It's a very much
Speaker 1: segue into that field. And then from their getting about
Speaker 1: a six month training program with Donate Life, and that
Speaker 1: really teaches you the you know, ways in which to
Speaker 1: support families and communicate in a very care and respectful
Speaker 1: manner and providing them with the information they need to
Speaker 1: be able to make a decision that's right, so they
Speaker 1: loved one and their family. And then from that you
Speaker 1: know all of the other different processes and things that
Speaker 1: go into getting someone ready for an organ donation operation
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 2: So do you still do work in ICU or you
Speaker 2: full time with Donate Life.
Speaker 1: So I a clinicleness consultant in I FEW at the Alfred,
Speaker 1: but my specialty is organ donations, So we work for
Speaker 1: semi clinically, I think is probably the easiest way to
Speaker 1: describe it. So we'll still look at how we can
Speaker 1: support our I few nursing and medical colleagues through the
Speaker 1: end of life care processes. However, we are sort of
Speaker 1: the designated nurses who will complete the work up and
Speaker 1: information and data collection and supporting families through that organ
Speaker 1: donation process.
Speaker 2: Can you explain the process to us, because it seems
Speaker 2: like there are quite a few steps.
Speaker 1: It is quite a big process. So, for example, when
Speaker 1: I came on today, we will check our database to
Speaker 1: see if we've received any referrals for any people who
Speaker 1: might be going through end of life care. All patients
Speaker 1: who are going through end of life care and an
Speaker 1: ED and ICU should get referred to donate life for
Speaker 1: consideration of organ and tissue donation. If we don't have
Speaker 1: anyone sitting on our database, will attend morning meetings in
Speaker 1: the ICU to see if there's any people who will
Speaker 1: potentially be gong for end of life care. If we
Speaker 1: do have referrals, will then be liaising closely with the
Speaker 1: ic bedside nurses, the medical teams and any allied health
Speaker 1: who are relevant to the patient's care just to see
Speaker 1: where really the patients in regards to their stability and
Speaker 1: then also more importantly, where the family's at in regards
Speaker 1: to the prognosis of their loved one. We would never
Speaker 1: get involved in any conversations around organ donation unless a
Speaker 1: family were accepting a end of life care, just because
Speaker 1: we know that that would be quite damaging and traumatic
Speaker 1: to families to be raising this as an option when
Speaker 1: they're not accepting of that transition of that active care
Speaker 1: into more of one of comfort and dignity through palliative
Speaker 1: sort of pathways. So if a family were ready to
Speaker 1: sort of hear about the next steps in their love
Speaker 1: one's care, we would then go into a family meeting
Speaker 1: with the medical team, the bedside nurse. Sometimes we'll have
Speaker 1: social work, sometimes we'll have interpreters if needed, and we
Speaker 1: will meet with a patient's family and from that we
Speaker 1: will gain a confirmation that they're understanding of transitioning to
Speaker 1: end of life care. And then from that, when they're ready,
Speaker 1: I will be introduced as a nurse with a predominantly
Speaker 1: really to talk families through what those next steps will be,
Speaker 1: and from that we really try and find out what's
Speaker 1: going to be important to that patient and their family,
Speaker 1: So if they have any spiritual or religious belief, if
Speaker 1: there's any other important family members or friends who need
Speaker 1: to come and see the patient in the ICU, and
Speaker 1: once we've ascertained that we're meeting all of the other
Speaker 1: needs of not only the patient but their family, I
Speaker 1: will then provide them with some information about organ donation
Speaker 1: and then from that there any questions that families may
Speaker 1: have to help them make that decision, and part of
Speaker 1: my role as well that I will check the Australian
Speaker 1: Organ Donor Register as well, and if someone was registered,
Speaker 1: we would share that information with the family. Conversely, even
Speaker 1: if they had registered their decline for donation, we would
Speaker 1: be quite transparent and open with families through that. But essentially,
Speaker 1: if a family is open to exploring organ donation for
Speaker 1: their loved one, we would then sit down with them
Speaker 1: and in more detail provide them with information about what
Speaker 1: the organ donation process looks like, the organs we think
Speaker 1: they loved one may potentially be able to donate, and
Speaker 1: then from that we do really detailed made a cool
Speaker 1: questionnaire about their medical and social and lifestyle history, and
Speaker 1: then we really start to collate a lot of information
Speaker 1: about their loved ones health. We'll do some routine bloods
Speaker 1: that screen for viral illness and any things like hepatitis, HIV,
Speaker 1: anything that could be transmissible to a recipient. If we
Speaker 1: discover anything that's an area of concern, we'll liaise with
Speaker 1: medical specialists just to ensure that donation and transplantation is
Speaker 1: safe to proceed, and then from that we'll start talking
Speaker 1: to transplant units to i suppose find the best match
Speaker 1: recipients for this potential donor. Then from that we will
Speaker 1: liaise with the family very closely, and then we would
Speaker 1: arrange a time essentially for the patient to go for
Speaker 1: their donation operation, and then from that we would be
Speaker 1: with the patient in that operation as well, still caring
Speaker 1: for the patient and then ensuring all due processes followed
Speaker 1: and that final check sort of in the donation safe
Speaker 1: and transplantation safe to proceed, and then we share that
Speaker 1: information and anatomy and things like that with the transplant units,
Speaker 1: and then we make sure that those life changing organs
Speaker 1: are able to get to the transplant centers as soon
Speaker 1: as possible, just to ensure the best possible outcomes for
Speaker 1: the recipients at the other end. And then we do
Speaker 1: follow up with the family down the track and things
Speaker 1: like that. But in a nutshell, that's probably a very
Speaker 1: a bruised version of what we do when we involved
Speaker 1: in someone going for organ donation.
Speaker 2: Who actually initiates a conversation with the families.
Speaker 1: Generally that will be us. So what I do as
Speaker 1: a donation specialist, we will provide family generally about the
Speaker 1: fact that their loved one is in intensive care on
Speaker 1: breathing machines, ventilators and are being supported that they may
Speaker 1: be in the rare position to help others through organ donation.
Speaker 1: And then from that it's really how we can then
Speaker 1: in a supportive and caring way, provide information to that
Speaker 1: patient's family so they're able to make an enduring decision
Speaker 1: for their loved one.
Speaker 2: On the whole. What is the response when you do
Speaker 2: go into a meeting like this.
Speaker 1: I think more often than not, is we wouldn't know
Speaker 1: what our loved one would want. You know, we never
Speaker 1: spoke about. And I think that's a really normal reaction
Speaker 1: for families to have. I think a lot of the
Speaker 1: time when people get admitted to the intensive care unit,
Speaker 1: it's under quite unexpected and sometimes traumatic circumstances, and when
Speaker 1: your otherwives fit and well, it's just not something you
Speaker 1: would ever see happening to you or your loved ones.
Speaker 1: So it's then how we can acknowledge and normalize that
Speaker 1: for families that it is okay not to know, but
Speaker 1: it's about then how we can provide information to them
Speaker 1: to help try and have an informed decision and enduring
Speaker 1: decisions for that family.
Speaker 2: In Victoria, I mean astray wide, there's the option for
Speaker 2: people to put their name down to be an organ donor.
Speaker 2: How uncommon is it that people do that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty uncommon actual effect. So we know that
Speaker 1: the majority of Australians do support all donation, and we
Speaker 1: know that the national average is about thirty six percent
Speaker 1: of people have actually taken that step to register their
Speaker 1: wish on the Australian organ don't register and even in
Speaker 1: Victoria that's even lower than the national stent. So I
Speaker 1: think we're seeing at about twenty five or twenty three
Speaker 1: percent actually. So we know that when I've spoken with
Speaker 1: families who have had a loved one who has registered
Speaker 1: their wishes, you can just see a weight spin lifted
Speaker 1: from their shoulders. That it then the burden of trying
Speaker 1: to make quite a big decision on behalf of their
Speaker 1: loved one. It really becomes more empowering to families. And
Speaker 1: then it's how can we help our loved ones fulfill
Speaker 1: that wish? And it's just a very different conversation where
Speaker 1: I think families feel quite proud that their loved one
Speaker 1: has taken the time and it's then for them to
Speaker 1: be able to help fulfill that for them as part
Speaker 1: of their end of life care.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's very important. I've certainly put my
Speaker 2: wishes down and we've discussed it previously on the podcast
Speaker 2: for people to do that, because we actually have had
Speaker 2: a couple of recipients that organ donation has saved their
Speaker 2: life on the podcast and they are truly truly grateful.
Speaker 2: So I actually, after speaking with one of them, went
Speaker 2: home and checked that it was current and that I
Speaker 2: definitely had done it. So those of you who are
Speaker 2: listening and haven't checked, how would they checked Georgie to
Speaker 2: make sure that they're on the register.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the easiest way is to go to
Speaker 1: the Donate Life website and then from there you're able
Speaker 1: to see if you're registered and if you're not, it
Speaker 1: also sends you to a link where you're able to
Speaker 1: then sign up on the register and all you need
Speaker 1: is your Medicare card, So it is quite easy to do,
Speaker 1: and yeah, you can even do it through the Medicare app,
Speaker 1: and yeah the donate Life website which is Donatelife dot
Speaker 1: dot au. But then I would also then encourage people
Speaker 1: to talk to your families about the fact that, hey,
Speaker 1: this is what I've done today, because it is surprising
Speaker 1: that people, I suppose, don't assume that your family know
Speaker 1: what you want. Speaking from personal experience as a nurse,
Speaker 1: when I had signed up many years ago on the register,
Speaker 1: I remember telling my parents at dinner because I was
Speaker 1: still living at home, and my mum, who was also
Speaker 1: a nurse, was really surprised that I had made that
Speaker 1: decision in my early twenties, and then just seeing how
Speaker 1: her perception had then shifted to be like, oh, wow, okay,
Speaker 1: I understand why you would do that. So even from
Speaker 1: a family of healthcare professionals, it was still a bit
Speaker 1: of a shock to my family. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: never assume, and it is a bit of an awkward
Speaker 1: conversation to have sometimes because it sometimes does feel like
Speaker 1: it's coming out of left field, and we honestly hope
Speaker 1: your family never has to make those decisions, but it's
Speaker 1: just that piece of mind knowing that if Heaven forbid,
Speaker 1: the worst thing were to happen, that your family would
Speaker 1: know what your wishes were.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. We had Mary Lee Miller spoke on our podcast
Speaker 2: and her son Cole was killed with a coward's punch
Speaker 2: here in the valley and she tells the story, and
Speaker 2: she told it on the podcast how she was driving
Speaker 2: down from the coast and she knew he had passed.
Speaker 2: She just had this feeling, and she was a nicer
Speaker 2: U nurse and she just knew that they had to
Speaker 2: donate his organs and they did, and it does give
Speaker 2: them comfort to know that he's living on in other
Speaker 2: people and has saved other people. And you wouldn't wish
Speaker 2: that on any family, on anyone ever, never, But how
Speaker 2: brave was that family and she he speaks so highly
Speaker 2: of the whole process of the organ donation and how
Speaker 2: respectful everyone was here at the hospital and in Brisbane,
Speaker 2: and that he lives on and I do believe it's
Speaker 2: a source of comfort for.
Speaker 1: Her And that's something that we do here from families.
Speaker 1: One of our colleagues her role is purely to support
Speaker 1: families who have had a loved one become an organ donor,
Speaker 1: and we hear quite regularly that obviously it doesn't take
Speaker 1: away the awful grief that they feel for the loss
Speaker 1: of their loved one, often in very tragic circumstances, but
Speaker 1: a lot of families feel proud in the fact that
Speaker 1: they know that their loved one has been able to
Speaker 1: help other people and help prevent other families from, I suppose,
Speaker 1: feeling what they're feeling and losing a loved one through
Speaker 1: the life changing power of organ transplantations. So I think
Speaker 1: I agree with you, Beckett. You never wish this upon anyone,
Speaker 1: and you really don't realish having these conversations, But to
Speaker 1: seeing the power for families to be able to make
Speaker 1: that decision for their loved one is pretty incredible. And
Speaker 1: how selfless they are in wanting to help others in
Speaker 1: the midst of their own very real, very raw grief
Speaker 1: is something that I think is just such a uniquely
Speaker 1: special part of the job that I do on It
Speaker 1: feels like a true privilege to be able to support
Speaker 1: these families in whatever way we can through this process
Speaker 1: for them.
Speaker 2: It is such a privilege, And there's so many parts
Speaker 2: to nursing that ask such a privilege. I can just
Speaker 2: tell by talking to you that you're an exceptionally empathetic
Speaker 2: kind person that has its own problems. How do you
Speaker 2: look after yourself like there must be some stories or
Speaker 2: conversations with people that really stand out for you. How
Speaker 2: do you deep and look after yourself and not get
Speaker 2: burnt out doing what you do?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an interesting one because I think I had
Speaker 1: actually over COVID in a few years before, was working
Speaker 1: in some nursing management roles which had burnt me out
Speaker 1: in some pretty significant ways, and really then had gravitated
Speaker 1: back to this role that I'm doing now because I
Speaker 1: needed to have that truly fulfilling aspect of my role
Speaker 1: and being able to support families. But I do acknowledge
Speaker 1: that this is a pretty emotionally fatiguing job at times
Speaker 1: when you are having end of life conversations, not quite daily,
Speaker 1: but pretty frequently. I think for us as donor coordinators,
Speaker 1: we're a pretty small, tight knit group, so we are
Speaker 1: pretty good at reaching out to one another to just
Speaker 1: debrief talk through some particularly tough cases that we've been
Speaker 1: involved in. And I'm pretty lucky my best friend lives
Speaker 1: a kay up the road for me, so there's often
Speaker 1: a walk to just get some fresh air to just
Speaker 1: have a chat and just take a step back from everything.
Speaker 1: And it sounds a bit cliche, but it is, you know,
Speaker 1: needing to refill that cup, so you know, whether it's
Speaker 1: then just cooking a really nice meal for myself. So
Speaker 1: I'm almost like physically nourishing myself to then try and
Speaker 1: then emotionally kind of nourish myself as well. And I
Speaker 1: think really to just be able to lean into those
Speaker 1: really important friendships and relationships you have outside of work,
Speaker 1: your family, your friends, and then also I think his
Speaker 1: nurses just regular and you'll leave. I think that that
Speaker 1: is just something that we are probably not good at
Speaker 1: doing that. I know my friends who are nurses certainly
Speaker 1: feel that at times you need to really savor lya
Speaker 1: for something big and amazing. But it's really about how
Speaker 1: can we incrementally take some leave to just take a breath,
Speaker 1: have a bit of a reset, and then prevent that
Speaker 1: significant burnout from happening. Because all of the people I
Speaker 1: know who do this job, we agree that it's an
Speaker 1: incredibly special job to have, but we need to recognize
Speaker 1: when we are potentially feeling that burnout creeping in, and
Speaker 1: then how we can sort of stop it from becoming
Speaker 1: a full blown dramatic theme for us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, look it's real Georgie. And the research is there
Speaker 2: that doing what you do, like catching up with a
Speaker 2: friend and going for a walk outside, that's really important.
Speaker 2: The fresh air, it's grounding, it's quite significant. It's a
Speaker 2: difference that makes And the other big research is having
Speaker 2: something to look forward to, having a holiday to look
Speaker 2: forward to, you know, and what do they say you
Speaker 2: should be rebooking your next holiday before you've completed the
Speaker 2: current holiday because it actually fills your cup, gives you
Speaker 2: something to look forward to and it's like a goal.
Speaker 2: I suppose that you're working towards. Do you look after
Speaker 2: children in your specialty? Is that only adults?
Speaker 1: We sometimes will so even though I'm based at the Alfred,
Speaker 1: if we're on call, we will service the whole Staates Victorious,
Speaker 1: so that will encompass the Royal Children's Hospital and the
Speaker 1: Monash Children's as well. There are two main pediatric centers
Speaker 1: here in Melbourne, so there are times we will care
Speaker 1: for pediatric patients and that's pretty form just. I think
Speaker 1: it always really sort of hits you in the emotions,
Speaker 1: probably a little bit harder than other cases at times,
Speaker 1: and then it then probably becomes a bit of a
Speaker 1: debrief or we'll do case reviews together to just be
Speaker 1: able to talk through those cases in particular. And we
Speaker 1: have an amazing pediatric nurse specialist who really tries to
Speaker 1: care for us and as well as you know, the
Speaker 1: patients and the families within her unit as well. And
Speaker 1: that's like a really great resource to have in having
Speaker 1: our colleague mail pediatric specialistners because coming from the adult field,
Speaker 1: little people is something that is probably scary for me.
Speaker 1: When I see them in a hospital bed, particularly one
Speaker 1: who's gone through end of life care, I think it
Speaker 1: becomes very emotional. And then how we care for those
Speaker 1: parents any other sort of family members as well within
Speaker 1: that space is emotionally pretty taxing when you.
Speaker 2: Go in and chat with a family. And this is
Speaker 2: going to seem like a really dumb question, because I'm
Speaker 2: thinking of myself, here, are you allowed to cry?
Speaker 1: I think so. I don't actually think I've cried in
Speaker 1: a meeting with a family. I've certainly had a few
Speaker 1: teeries over the years when we've been going for a
Speaker 1: donation operation with some families that have really struck a
Speaker 1: chord with me in a bit of a different way,
Speaker 1: or I'll have a bit of a cry on the
Speaker 1: way home. But I do try, and I think hold
Speaker 1: it together because I know that even though it's incredibly
Speaker 1: sad what's happening, it's not necessarily my grief, and it's
Speaker 1: then how can I care for families to help them
Speaker 1: through their grief. That it's probably my preference, probably not
Speaker 1: too because I feel like I couldn't be the nurse
Speaker 1: I need to be for them if I was getting
Speaker 1: really emotional, But I certainly think it's something that's you know,
Speaker 1: it's not necessarily frowned upon, but just for me and
Speaker 1: how I provide care, it's something i'd probably try and
Speaker 1: not do.
Speaker 2: It's funny when I did palliative care, very rarely did
Speaker 2: I suppose when I was caring for them, I think
Speaker 2: you do put a different hat on. But hearing stories
Speaker 2: or when I interviewed Mary Lee, or when people are
Speaker 2: talking about their journey and their raw grief, it's a
Speaker 2: whole other ball game. For me. I just sit there
Speaker 2: and just like tears roll down my face and I
Speaker 2: do wonder sometimes how I would be in that role,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure death I was gonna say, sure, a shit, No,
Speaker 2: I couldn't do kids because I just couldn't.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny. I mean, for me, when I started
Speaker 1: my career, you know, death and dying really scared me
Speaker 1: as someone who was in their early twenties and started
Speaker 1: nursing and probably hadn't emotionally matured to the point where
Speaker 1: I could sort of see past my own discomfort in
Speaker 1: some ways. But it is really confronting, and I think
Speaker 1: even though I try and not cry at work, I
Speaker 1: think I certainly have become a much more emotional person
Speaker 1: outside of work, and it probably doesn't take much for
Speaker 1: me to have a good cry these days, Like it
Speaker 1: does hit you, and I think it gives you a
Speaker 1: greater perspective on the spectrum of life and death and
Speaker 1: everything in between. And I think, for me, certainly, how
Speaker 1: much more thankful I need to be in sort of
Speaker 1: embracing and being thankful for the little moments that I
Speaker 1: can have with family and friends, because we just sort
Speaker 1: of see the whole gamut in this role, whether you're young, old,
Speaker 1: just what awfully tragic things can happen to people. I think.
Speaker 2: So it's very interesting that you so insightful and so
Speaker 2: aware of the little moments. Do you think doing this
Speaker 2: job has made you that person? Or were you always
Speaker 2: that person and it's just enhanced your awareness of that need.
Speaker 1: I think I probably had that tendency already, And I
Speaker 1: think because this job is so unique but also in
Speaker 1: some respect such a hard job. I don't think you
Speaker 1: could do this job if you weren't already that way
Speaker 1: incline to be a bit more empathetic and caring. But
Speaker 1: I definitely think this job has certainly changed my perception
Speaker 1: and view on life and just sort of the different
Speaker 1: walks of life people come from and different things people
Speaker 1: can go through throughout their life. And it's certainly, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think shifted how I view things and yet embracing
Speaker 1: the small things in life and just not sweating the
Speaker 1: small stuff. I suppose it's probably a really big thing
Speaker 1: for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm assuming you have become a pretty non judgmental
Speaker 2: person through this process, I think so.
Speaker 1: I think probably a not much makes me blush anymore
Speaker 1: from hearing about, you know, different escapades people have gone on.
Speaker 1: But I also think that nothing really that anyone does
Speaker 1: you can really be in a position to judge them
Speaker 1: for I think it's how you then care for someone
Speaker 1: in that bed at that point in time and what
Speaker 1: they need and what their family need, and aspects of
Speaker 1: their history become somewhat irrelevant. And it's how we can
Speaker 1: make this palliative process the most respectful and dignified thing
Speaker 1: for them, because no one wants to die, particularly in
Speaker 1: the hospital, I don't think, So how can we make
Speaker 1: it less clinical? What nice? I suppose it's not nice
Speaker 1: to be losing a love bum but what things can
Speaker 1: we do to make it feel more personal? If it
Speaker 1: playing music? Can we bring things in from home? We've
Speaker 1: certainly had doctors sneaking cats and dogs and things like
Speaker 1: that over the years that you know, no request is
Speaker 1: kind of knocked back immediately, though some have been a
Speaker 1: bit outrageous, but you know, ultimately it's what's going to
Speaker 1: be important to that family and how we can then
Speaker 1: try and help support them with that as well.
Speaker 2: So important, Georgie quickly, can you go through organs that
Speaker 2: can be donated to other people?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so one person you know, could potentially save up
Speaker 1: to seven lives through organ donations. So there's things that
Speaker 1: are or lungs could be donated to someone who is
Speaker 1: really critically ill. The kidneys could help two people come
Speaker 1: off of dialysis which they might need to attend three
Speaker 1: times a week, so it can really, I think, significantly
Speaker 1: impact their quality of life and allow them to do
Speaker 1: things that they haven't because they've just been so constrained
Speaker 1: by this regular sort of weekly dialysis requirement. Live a donation,
Speaker 1: so potentially even in someone their liver could be donated
Speaker 1: to two people, So not always, but it is something
Speaker 1: that can occur. And then even pacreous could be donated
Speaker 1: to help cure someone for diabetes, which is pretty significant.
Speaker 1: And then very rarely do we see someone be able
Speaker 1: to donate their stomach and intestines, which might only happen
Speaker 1: once a year here in Victoria, but it could be
Speaker 1: someone who's maybe never been able to eat a meal
Speaker 1: in their life and they've been too fed, So it
Speaker 1: can have huge, huge impacts for people who have been
Speaker 1: unwell in that regard. So there's also tissue an eye
Speaker 1: donation which can then help impact people's lives and be
Speaker 1: quiet life altering as well. So someone could restore the
Speaker 1: site of two people through eye donation, which is pretty powerful.
Speaker 2: So powerful. Is there one particular story that stays with you?
Speaker 2: With one family.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think maybe not a donor family, but I
Speaker 1: think it was just a patient who I cared for
Speaker 1: that really opened my eyes to just the power of
Speaker 1: what a difference a transplant can have in someone's life.
Speaker 1: Where I was caring for a lady who was admitted
Speaker 1: to ICU because she was awaiting along transplant and was
Speaker 1: on some different infusions to try and help optimize her
Speaker 1: long function, but was pretty bedbound, could really only speak
Speaker 1: in sort of one word responses, and simple act of
Speaker 1: toileting on a bedpan would almost mean we'd have to
Speaker 1: hit the emergency bell because she would desaturate so significantly.
Speaker 1: And I cared for a for few nights and night
Speaker 1: gene and then had days off, and as you do,
Speaker 1: the patient gets discharged and you don't see them again.
Speaker 1: And then many many months later, I was walking back
Speaker 1: into the ICU after taking a patient to the ward,
Speaker 1: and I could have sworn I heard someone say my
Speaker 1: name and then had to look around, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: there's no one here I know, so I'll just keep walking.
Speaker 1: And then I hear someone call my name again, and
Speaker 1: I look and it's this lady sitting out of bed
Speaker 1: in a chair with just some small little prongs of
Speaker 1: oxygen in her nose, and she had told me that
Speaker 1: she had a transplant two or three days previously, and
Speaker 1: that she was doing really well and was hoping she'd
Speaker 1: be able to go to the ward. And the fact
Speaker 1: that she could then see one of her children get married,
Speaker 1: which she just didn't even think was ever going to
Speaker 1: be possible for her, is now going to be incredibly
Speaker 1: possible for her. And that was something that made me think, oh,
Speaker 1: my goodness, this is the most life changing thing ever
Speaker 1: where we just couldn't even get this lady to almost
Speaker 1: safely be able to use a bedpad because she was
Speaker 1: so unwell. So then a few days after her transplant
Speaker 1: to be sitting out of bed talking to me in
Speaker 1: full sentences and I'd never really heard her voice before,
Speaker 1: which was kind of mind blowing to me because she
Speaker 1: was so out of breath. And then that made me
Speaker 1: really think, wow, like families who can sent their loved
Speaker 1: ones to organ donation are so incredible in what they
Speaker 1: are doing for people that they will never meet, that
Speaker 1: they will never really get to hear about all the
Speaker 1: amazing things that they can do. And for me, that
Speaker 1: was just a really small glimpse into that, and it
Speaker 1: was just really made me want to be able to
Speaker 1: work in this area and care for those families that
Speaker 1: have made such an amazing decision for their loved one.
Speaker 2: It is life changing for so many people, isn't it. Georgie,
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat
Speaker 2: with me today. But I appreciate you coming on having
Speaker 2: a chat, and I just want to say, I'm sitting
Speaker 2: here admiring your skin as a dermatology. I'm in awe
Speaker 2: and I don't know what you're doing, but I don't
Speaker 2: know it's the camera.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's bumping me up a little bit.
Speaker 2: Oh no, it looks amazing and I'm sitting here going, oh,
Speaker 2: look at that glow.
Speaker 1: Kay Beauty products the skin career in Bomb, isn't it.
Speaker 2: I've actually got some of their blush on. Love it
Speaker 2: so anyway, and fourteen dollars for the blush. You can't
Speaker 2: go wrong, can you bargain?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, thanks Georgie.
Speaker 1: My pleasure.
Speaker 2: This season. I am so excited to announce that the
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