Most people think about retiring once they reach their fifties, but for Karen Collis that just wasn’t on the cards.
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Spending 30 “rewarding” years at Baiadas and coming into long service leave provided a petry dish situation where the idea of nursing grew.
With the dream of working as a nurse with her from day dot, moving to Griffith at a young age with her family and finding herself in the mother-role made this career unattainable.
Now as a registered nurse, she cannot believe how far she’s come.
Despite this, she has “no regrets” over her life’s trajectory and “wouldn’t change a thing.”
“I’ve had a great life so far, and I didn’t change careers because I was unhappy,” Mrs Collis said.
Starting a Tafe course eight years ago before going on to study her university degree via correspondence, she said one of the challenging things was to try and find her schooling records.
The world is your oyster – if you want to do it you can do it. Where there is a will there is a way - whether it’s now or in 10-15 years.
- Registered nurse Karen Collis.
“I was really quite taken aback to find they had actually been archived!”
Her husband has been “extremely supportive” and her whole family was behind her all the way., after a nudge from her daughter-in-law to take up study.
With young grandchildren, she hopes she can be an example that there is “no limits” to what is achievable if you have the passion to chase your dreams.
“The world is your oyster – if you want to do it you can do it. Where there is a will there is a way.
“Whether it’s now or in 10-15 years, you have to do what you want to do.”
Mrs Collis is now experiencing the highs and lows of working in different wards at Griffith Base Hospital, and hopes to end up permanently on the surgical ward.
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She shared her experience with a young university student, a patient in the children’s ward, to the surprise of his parents.
“We really talked on the same level about university, and the parents were shocked – I love to shock people,” she laughed.
“I never thought I’d be here, never.
“Completing university took me a little bit longer, and I lost my father along the way, but it’s been an incredible journey.”
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