Mum and daughter nurse team help kids at Sydney Children’s Hospital
The Sunday Telegraph was invited onto the wards of the Sydney Children’s Hospital to discover the special family of professionals that care for the sickest of children, including nurse Kellie Wilson whose daughter Eliza followed in her professional footsteps.
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Kellie Wilson’s kind smile has been a permanent fixture on the wards of the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick for almost three decades.
The 49-year-old nurse has cared for the some of sickest children in the country, cried with families in their darkest hour, and tried to lighten the load for kids who have to endure painful treatments.
It’s not a job for everyone. You need a special mix of compassion, empathy and professionalism in a crisis. But most of all, you need laughter, she said.
“People expect our job to be sad but it’s quite the contrary,” Kellie said.
“Our role is to cheer up the patient and promote wellbeing and it is one of the happiest places to work.”
On any given day, there will be babies like four-week-old Oscar Kernohan who fell desperately ill with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
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The tiny bub, who was born five weeks premature, was transferred from Nepean Hospital after he stopped breathing. The virus caused bronchiolitis and he required oxygen to survive.
After 13 days in intensive care, Oscar went home last week after a remarkable turnaround.
“The staff were amazing,” grateful Penrith mum Eilish Lynch said, still reeling from the ordeal.
“It was really scary, but the staff were just brilliant and he just came good a few days ago.”
After 28 years on the job, it’s these moments that continue to thrill Kellie.
“The bad days are few and far between, but the highs are seeing these remarkable outcomes,” she said.
“To see children come in to the hospital in really poor health and then being able to see them get well again in most cases is so uplifting,”
The staff here are also like family, and fittingly, Kellie welcomed her own daughter onto the wards this year.
Eliza Wilson, 22, has decided to don the blue scrubs just like mum.
“I was thrilled when she decided to follow in my footsteps. I feel very blessed to be part of this institution and I’m happy Eliza is now sharing in the journey. We have some incredibly challenging days but if we can do things to make the worst day of a person’s life a little bit more comforting, that is what we aim to do,” Kellie said.
Caring for others runs in the blood of the Wilsons and they know heartbreak intimately.
Kellie’s husband and Eliza’s father, Michael Wilson, was a helicopter paramedic who tragically lost his life Christmas Eve in 2011 after falling from a rope suspended from a helicopter at Carrington Falls, near Wollongong. Michael was attempting to rescue an abseiler in distress.
“I have grown up around the medical profession, dad was a helicopter paramedic and I grew up with mum coming home and telling us the stories of those who went home and those who didn’t, and it inspired me to make a different,” Eliza said.
Kellie is now a nurse educator, training the next generation of nurses at Sydney Children’s and her daughter proudly refers to her as ‘mum’ on the wards — and it has caught on. Kellie’s new nickname is ‘Mumma Wils’ and it’s fitting as she fusses over her brood.
“The overarching qualities you need to do this job are compassion and kindness and positivity and Eliza has these in spades. I have witnessed her develop beautiful relationships with patients so I am very proud of her as a nurse and a mum,” Kellie said.
Children, like five-year-old Ollie, who was diagnosed leukaemia last June, become inpatients for months on end and have to endure the worst before they get better. Ollie has had two kinds of chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant.
“Watching him go through that was not easy,” mum Rebecca Kennedy said.
“When your child is faced with a life-threatening illness you have to put the trust in their hands and watching what they have to do to get him into remission was very hard. He was in pain from his chemo but all the nurses were fabulous and he had a couple that he just loved.”
Ollie is now in remission and only comes back every two weeks for clinic, but Rebecca is also grateful for the support she received as a mum facing her worst nightmare.
“The nurses are so upbeat and that can’t be easy with the long hours, but they were not only supportive of Ollie but also the parents, they were trying to lighten the mood and the little things like you know, asking if they can grab a coffee for you.
“They really help you and are supportive at a difficult time.”
Four-year-old Divinity spent 17 days in intensive care after bronchitis turned into pneumonia. The Springwood preschooler needed life support and only just came off last Thursday.
Mum Debbie Manjed said the ordeal had been softened by Divinity’s turnaround and the amazing nursing staff.
“I got my first smile on Thursday and she has only just got her voice back,” the mum-of-three said.
“The staff have been amazing and so understanding of all our needs because I’m still breastfeeding my baby.”
Kellie said the family is at the centre of the care they deliver.
“We care for the family members as much as the patient,” she said.
Of course the golden gift for all is when a sick child is discharged to go home. Last Thursday, little five-month-old Hudson finally flew home to Tamworth after a rough start in life.
At just 11 weeks of age, he was diagnosed with the rare but serious Intussusception, where his intestines were twisted. Surgery to correct it led to a serious infection that landed the infant in intensive care for four weeks.
“For a while there it didn’t look good, he was ventilated and it was a very hard time for us,” his mum Nadine Price said.
“But the staff were fantastic and made it as comfortable as they could, and the nurses have been fabulous. Hudson loves all the nurses and we had fantastic cared.”
Eliza said she feels privileged to work in such an environment.
“It is both humbling and grounding to see families come in at their most vulnerable time and rely on the doctors and nurses that take over the care of their children,” she said.
“But the kids are so resilient and take it in their stride. There is sadness and distress when they need to have a procedure done but it doesn’t last long and a smile is soon back on their face. It is great to see such resilience.”
Sydney Children’s Hospital Gold Appeal: Give a Golden Gift donation to help kids thrive — goldappeal.org.au or call 1800 244 537
Originally published as Mum and daughter nurse team help kids at Sydney Children’s Hospital
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