National Nursing Week 2022 Nurse Profile: JoAnne

JoAnne's Story

I think what is unique about being a community nurse is the creativity and ingenuity that patients and nurses develop to deal with any issue, using the resources available at the time. It can require thinking outside the box on some occasions.

What I love most about my role as an NSWOC in the community is my confidence (80% of the time) that we (the patient, nurses and I) can improve the quality of life for the patient and their caregivers. We can often see the level of anxiety drop from sky high to manageable during our visit.

The first wave of the pandemic was shrouded in uncertainty. We knew very little about the virus and everyone's anxiety was high. The toughest part was managing patient anxiety and making sure we were all practicing and promoting public health measures to prevent the spread of the virus.