Mother daughter duo deploy to Karlarra House

WA Country Health Service (WACHS) recently supported mother and daughter duo Jess and Tash Ellis to deploy to the Pilbara for a stint at Karlarra House – the local residential aged care facility in South Hedland.

Tash Ellis, a Nurse Practitioner in WACHS’ Palliative Care Program and Jess Ellis, a Clinical Nurse Manager at Baptistcare Margaret River, joined forces to upskill and collaborate with the team at Karlarra House.

When the opportunity came up to take their skills to the Pilbara, Jess and Tash jumped at the chance.

“It was a chance to help out at a fellow aged care home and collaborate on management, knowledge and processes,” Jess said.

“And it was good to work together with mum (Tash) again. She’s an amazing nurse, and while we are very different clinicians, we always learn something new from each other,” she added.

Tash said the exposure to aged care was a great opportunity to learn new skills.

“I loved meeting people face to face, to observe and learn in a new environment and specialty, and to build connections with some incredible clinicians,” she said.

WA Country Health Service’s Pilbara Regional Director Nursing and Midwifery Katrina Seng said deployments allow nurses of all specialties and demographics to gain invaluable experience in the regions.

“There’s lots of opportunity to learn in different settings and specialties. Our nurses always come away with more knowledge and skills under their belt and share what they’ve learned with their colleagues.

“It’s great to see opportunities like this for collaboration between organisations, peer mentorship and career advancement for our nurses,” she said.

For Karlarra House Coordinator of Nursing, Abigael Mathea, she said the deployment was also a great benefit to the highly skilled team.

“The collaboration with Jess and Tash was truly exceptional. We seized the opportunity to assess, and refine our processes, and we benefited greatly from their insights and feedback,” she said.

Jess and Tash, who are both no strangers to the benefits of living and working in the country, agreed that they’d do a country deployment again and encourage others to consider it too.

“I love working in the country. I would say to anyone considering it, to get out of your comfort zone and experience regional nursing if you haven’t already as it is completely different,” Jess said.

“I guarantee you’ll learn something new and come away inspired from the experience,” Tash added.

“The ability to take care of people in their own environment is such a privilege.”

Considering country? Find out how you can join us today: WA Country Health Service - Nursing and midwifery careers