Nurse awarded for 40 years of spectacular health care
COMMUNITY HEALTH
Mossman Hospital Associate Nurse Unit Manager of Acute and Aged, Jenny Pont, has celebrated 40 years with the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service.
At 16, Ms Pont did work experience at the Atherton Hospital, where she was fascinated by the rhythm strip from an ECG, which acted as a launching pad for a lifetime of helping others.
In 1979, Jenny became a trainee nurse at the old Mareeba Hospital and in 1982, she moved to the Mossman Hospital where she moved up the ranks to her current managerial position.
Her daughter has also followed her into nursing, carrying on the tradition of healthcare in the Pont family.
Ms Pont has done a couple of stints in southeast and western Queensland, but said she loves Far North Queensland too much to stay away for long.
“It’s about making a difference in the community,” she said.
“It’s more than health. It’s about being of service, finding ways to do things better.”
Ms Pont said she has seen a lot of changes since she began, especially the technology available to support and assist nurses.
But that ECG print-out she saw back in the 1970s reminds her the basics are constant and some things don’t need t change.
“We still do ECGs that way now. We have amazing new things like hoists – no more shoulder lifts. But the foundations of nursing are still there,” she said.
Ms Pont had year years of service to the community recognised with a length of service award during Staff Recognition Week.
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