Taupō Medical Centre’s Jean Chegwidden followed the leader when she decided to become a nurse.
During a double celebration recently — her 83rd birthday and 50 years at the medical centre – she recalled it wasn’t a driving passion to care for people that led to the decision.
It was because her older sister had become one and the then-Jean Russell, who was boarding at Hamilton Girls’ High School at the time, followed suit.
She graduated in March 1963 after three years’ study at Waikato Hospital and for the next 60 years, most of her working life has involved looking after Taupō people. Clearly nursing suited her.
Chegwidden did not want a fuss but that length of service to the community could not be overlooked, GP Alastair Fraser said at the recent celebration.
‘You have touched a lot of lives’
“You have sincerely touched a lot of lives in the last 50 years and no doubt you will touch a few more,” he said.
She was born in Whakatāne, spent her early years in Edgecumbe and attended the remote Matahina School where she was one of 30 pupils.
After secondary school and fresh out of nursing studies with her white, crisply starched nurse’s uniform, she moved to Taupō originally working at the maternity hospital before she married and moved to Australia for a decade.
She remembers immunising patients as children who have since brought in their own children . . .
Back in New Zealand in 1973, divorced and with two children, Chegwidden walked into the Taupō Medical Centre when it was in Te Heuheu Street and asked Tangi Martin, then one of three doctors in the practice and someone she knew at the maternity hospital, whether he had a job.
There was one on reception so in September she started at Taupō Medical Centre and three months later was a practice nurse.
So much has changed since then but her commitment to her patients has not — just the way she delivers it.
For the last 10 years she has been fulfilling a triage job on the phones, talking to patients about what ails them and using her nursing knowledge to assess whether they need to see a doctor or access any other medical services.
“I’ve been looking after the patients and doing what I can for them,” she said.
She remembers immunising patients as children who have since brought in their own children and has enjoyed getting to know and look after families through multiple generations.
So, if she had her time again, would she choose nursing?
Primary care nursing in general practices generally pays less than hospital nursing but Chegwidden has never hankered for that, preferring the close interaction with her community.
“Yes, I would. All I can say is I’ve had no desire to branch out and do anything else.”
Primary care nursing in general practices generally pays less than hospital nursing but Chegwidden has never hankered for that, preferring the close interaction with her community.
“I’ve been happy doing my thing and looking after the patients and doing what I could for them.”
She has recently reapplied successfully for her annual nursing practice certificate.
She is hinting at retirement
“But I won’t be here for a year,” she said, hinting at retirement.
“I’m not a sociable person you know. I don’t join all the committees around and all the clubs, so it scares me a little bit when the time comes but I’ve just got to get over it and get on with it.”
Her grandchildren are grown up, but she has two great grandchildren, including a newborn, who she will catch up with.
Plus, she has a friend who loves walking so expect to see Chegwidden plodding the footpaths of Taupō soon, and instead of talking to patients on the phone, she expects to see them out and about.
Taupō Medical Centre belongs to the Pinnacle Midlands Health Network, a not for profit primary health care provider which manages the health care of nearly half a million people enrolled with 84 practices in Tairāwhiti, Taranaki, Rotorua, Taupō-Tūrangi, Thames-Coromandel and Waikato.
* Mary Anne Gill is a self-employed writer based in the Waikato, and a former communications director for Waikato District Health Board.