After 33 years of service to nursing across PA Hospital, passionate patient care advocate and Registered Nurse, Sabine Gloeckl-Svierak is hanging up the scrubs for the last time.
Sabine began her nursing career in Vienna in 1975 before migrating to Australia in 1983. The path to registration was paved with hurdles, she spent years navigating paperwork, translating documents, and mastering English.
“I taped myself on a cassette deck, I wrote down things, and I studied the dictionary from English German to German English; from back to front, from front to back, and again from the middle,” Sabine explained.
Her perseverance paid off when after years in aged care, Sabine claimed her title as a Registered Nurse in 1992 and joined the ward CC3 team at the old PA Hospital.
Over the next three decades, her adventurous career would span surgical care, trauma, neurology, neurosurgery and orthopaedics, to name a few.
Sabine met every new specialty with optimism, skill, and a whole lot of heart for her patients, and she relished the simple act of caring for people.
“What I like the best is the bedside nursing… washing, feeding, brushing their teeth. That's what I always wanted to do, make someone feel good when they can’t do this for themselves.”
Sabine's colleagues became her second family, supporting her through the daily challenges including PAH’s transition to the digital world.
“I am so thankful to all my colleagues who have supported me with kindness and encouragement in my nursing career. The late nights, early mornings, shared laughter and tears are all unforgettable memories,” she said.
“They always were there when I needed them, and they always show me respect for what I bring to the nursing profession.”
As Sabine embarks on a new chapter, her legacy of resilience, compassion and a career committed to bedside nursing endures within the halls and the hearts of PA Hospital.