Working in the aged care industry has been a constant in Avril Williams life, but working as the new Clinical Nurse Consultant at TriCare Cypress Gardens Aged Care Residence is one of her most fulfilling roles.
Ms Williams initially started out in a nursing care role as an enrolled nurse while her children were young and still at school.
It wasn’t until later in life that she decided to go back to university in Sydney to qualify as a Registered Nurse as a mature aged student.
After graduating and spending a number of years working Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred’s busy trauma orthopaedics team, the aged care sector came calling again after a move to Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Ms Williams says that starting out as an enrolled nurse then furthering her studies later in life gave her a different perspective and great grounding in nursing across the board.
“The fast paced environment at RPA, coupled with my aged care knowledge has helped me identify common injuries in older patients, as well as provided me with greater experience in the medical field,” said Ms Williams.
As Clinical Nurse Consultant at TriCare Cypress Gardens, Ms Williams is responsible for co-ordinating the day to day management of nursing staff which includes ensuring staff are working within their scope of practice, education and mentoring of new graduates.
“What I love about my role is that it’s so varied – one minute I can be helping nursing staff on the floor, and the next I might be sourcing information for residents or reviewing care plans.
It’s still very hands on and most importantly I still have constant contact with our residents – I am rarely in my office!” said Ms Williams.
