Joanne Morganson was late into a nursing career which sees her now caring for early arrivals.
As a neonatal nurse at Mackay Base Hospital, Jo is one of the supportive, caring and friendly faces in the Special Care Nursery (SCN) looking after families and preterm babies 32 weeks gestation and later or babies who are very unwell.
On World Prematurity Day (November 17), Jo reminds us all that what is one of the happiest days in the lives of new parents could also be the hardest when a premature or unwell baby required special care.
“The parents are very grateful as they often have to leave behind their precious new arrivals,” Jo said.
“To see these sick and premmie babies come into the unit so acutely unwell, get better and finally go home is just wonderful.”
The SCN has two areas including an acute area for sick newborns who require constant monitoring and extra treatment, as well as a growing area for stable ‘prems’ and those babies establishing feeding and preparing for discharge.
Babies younger than 32 weeks, or too sick to be cared for in Mackay, are transferred to the tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NIC) in Townsville. When babies are well enough, they can be transferred back to Mackay for ongoing care and to the prepare them to go home.
Babies born under 36 weeks gestation were also admitted to the special care nursery for at least 24 hours for monitoring as were those who required antibiotics after birth.
A born and bred Mackay local, Jo was in her 40s when she started her Diploma of Nursing and began working as an enrolled nurse at Resthaven Retirement Home. She then completed a Bachelor of Nursing and worked for two years on F2 at Mackay Base Hospital before transferring to SCN for the last four years.
Her mother was a nurse for 54 years and trained at the Mackay Base Hospital. Ironically, her sister is a nurse practitioner in the NICU in Townsville.
In another strange twist of fate, Jo’s grandson Maverick was born prematurely in December 2021 at 29 weeks and was a patient of the Townsville NICU. He was actually cared for by his great aunt (Jo’s sister).
Jo said she had always planned a career in healthcare and had intended to do her hospital training at the Royal Brisbane when she was 16. She delayed it back then to take a job in retail.
When her youngest daughter Hannah finally went to university “she said ‘it’s your turn now mum’ and applied to QTAC for me”, Jo said.
“It’s honestly a very rewarding and lovely career and I get a deal of satisfaction working with my SCN colleagues, families and the newborns,” Jo said.
