By Tanya Steele
A Healesville nurse has won in her category for the 2023 Victorian Rural Health Awards which celebrates outstanding efforts and work in primary health care nursing.
Claire Oettinger from the Get Well Clinic in Healesville attended the 18th Virtual Awards event on Thursday 16 June with her family and other staff and said she was surprised and happy when the results were announced.
“It was just a real surprise when they announced me as the winner, I was really excited,” she said.
“It’s wonderful to be recognized and officially appreciated. You feel that with the patients they’re always very grateful and thankful you can see that you’re making a difference when you’re with them, but it’s just nice to be organized to be recognized at an official capacity.”
The Get Well Clinic celebrated as a team, along with family and Ms Oettinger said she wanted to thank everyone for their support.
Ms Oettinger has been a nurse for over 30 years and has been practising in the Yarra Valley for 14 years.
“I’ve worked in Yarra Glen and Healesville and came to the Get Well Clinic in 2018,” she said.
Ms Oettinger said some of her job satisfaction has come from being able to care for people who are a bit vulnerable, and not able to access the services that they need.
“One of the things that I was involved in was organizing a special immunization clinic for kids that were on the spectrum, to better facilitate their needs,” she said.
Lauren Cordwell, Acting CEO of rural workforce agency Victoria (RWAV) said that recently, rural Victoria has been facing ongoing workforce shortages across all health professions.
“We celebrate the impact of our current rural health workforce and hope that more doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other health professionals will make the decision to work in rural Victoria in the near future,” she said.
The Get Well Clinic had two nominees this year, Ms Mandy Ven-Velp Fernand was also in the running for her contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and Ms Oettinger said she wanted to highlight and celebrate the Ms Ven-Velp Fernand.
“It’s just sensational that she was nominated and became a finalist, I really want to acknowledge Mandy and the tireless work that she does as well,” she said.
Ms Oettinger said she has enjoyed being a primary practice nurse and plans to continue on in her work.
“So moving forward, we will just keep trying to improve our practice… work together as a team and keep delivering good health care to the community,” she said.
