A much-loved local nurse is hanging up the scrubs after nearly 30 years of service to the Bellarine community.
Bellarine Community Health (BCH) footcare nurse Barb Clarke will retire at the end of February after 28 years in the role.
Having trained in South Australia and worked in hospitals around the country, Ms Clarke never intended to specialise in footcare.
But after filling in at BCH in a temporary role as a footcare nurse, she found she loved the job.
“I’ve had the conversation many times with people who say, ‘How can you stand looking at
feet all day? Don’t you ever get sick of feet?'” Barb said.
“But I say, well, there’s never two feet the same, and there’s usually somebody interesting on the end of them.”
During her 28 years at BCH Barb has also stepped into many different roles as needed, including administration, district nursing and coordinating a Meals on Wheels program.
BCH chief executive Kathy Russell says Barb had been an integral member of the Podiatry team and would be greatly missed.
“Her care for clients, her generosity with colleagues and her sense of humour have left a lasting impression on our organisation,” she said.
“Barb has helped set a strong footing for our podiatry service, and while we will miss her enormously, we are delighted she will now have more time to spend with her family and enjoy the next stage of life”.
When asked what she would miss most about BCH, Barb said it was “the people, both within my team and the extended team”.
“I’ve always liked the people I work with; I see them as all key players,” she said.
“I like the clients too. I deal with a lot of elderly people, so I like their stories, where they’ve come from. I genuinely value them.”
