Teneeka Plumridge
Clinical Nurse
Townsville Hospital Emergency Department
It doesn’t matter what time of day (or night) you come in, Townsville Hospital’s Emergency Department is always buzzing. As a nurse in the ED, Teneeka could be called upon to do anything from dressing and cleaning an injury to being involved in a team responding to major trauma and resuscitation.
“All night shifts are so busy and so different,” Teneeka says.
“Medicine is always a puzzle and sometimes the most interesting shifts are when patients don’t have typical symptoms and it takes the entire team to get the right result. All of the clinicians who work in the ED are part detective.”
The fast-paced environment of the ED keeps you going and there’s also a degree of adrenaline involved with emergency work.
Teneeka has been a part of the Townsville ED team for seven years and enjoys the flexibility of shift work. It has allowed her to attend some of her boys’ school events, which she would’ve missed if she worked a regular 9am to 5pm job.
“I’m more a night owl than a morning person,” Teneeka says.
“The fast-paced environment of the ED keeps you going and there’s also a degree of adrenaline involved with emergency work. It’s not uncommon to look up at the clock and see it’s 4am and you wonder where the night went.
“It can be a challenge trying to sleep during the day, when the rest of the world is fully active, but you get used to it and it’s part of the job.”