Tell us about yourself!
I’m Kerry McBride and I am a Registered nurse and mum of 2 children – Evie, 7 and Archie, 4. I live and work in the Ryde area and I’m an active member of Ryde District Mums! I can often be found hanging around at the local park with the children and our dog Lulu.
I grew up in South Africa, studied child care and education in the UK, travelled the world bit, met my husband in France and followed him when he came back home to Australia.
I began studying Nursing at UTS about 6 years ago in between juggling working in childcare centres and as a nanny. I don’t do things by halves!
Currently, I work as a practice nurse at Myhealth Meadowbank.
What does a practice nurse do?
A practice nurse does a lot of the background work in a Medical Centre. For example I do lots of adult and child immunisations, baby checks, triage patients to ensure they get the right care at the right time by the right person, wound care, remind all patients that they are due for their follow up appointments, support doctors with procedures and making sure all things are running smoothly day to day to keep all our patients happy, safe and well looked after. I also hold chronic disease clinics, like weight loss clinics and diabetes clinics. There’s plenty more than that too – the list is endless really!
What question do you get asked most by mums visit your practice?
That depends on the type of visit. At an immunisation visit the most asked question would have to be ‘what percentile height and weight is my baby?’
If a child comes to the practice because they are unwell, sometimes I assess them before the doctor sees them. The most asked question in this circumstance is ‘is my child going to be ok?’.
What are mums most worried about when they come to see you?
At an immunisation appointment, most mums are actually worried about how they are going as parents – are they doing the right things and how has their parenting affected their child.
At appointments where the child comes in because they are unwell, well that’s obvious, every mum knows the only thing we are all worried about is the health of our child.
What is the best part of your job?
Apart from getting to wear colourful scrubs every day, I love that I have over 1500 babies and children currently at Myhealth Meadowbank to look after. Being able to be involved in so many families lives, even for just a fraction of time, is such a special privilege and a true honour.
What is the worst?
Vomit. Adult vomit! That’s pretty much it.
Do you have a question for Kerry? E.g. do you want to know more about Practice Nursing or Myhealth Meadowbank? Send your questions to info@rydedistrictmums.com.au