Nurse‘s infectious work ethic

Lorraine Metcalfe has a strong empathy with Gippsland and an infectious attitude towards her work at St John of God Hospital. Lorraine is the infection control coordinator at the ‘newborn’ hospital and this vital part of health care means she becomes involved in all aspects of the hospital’s operation.
She is the hospital’s second longest serving care giver.
Lorraine’s story started in Bairnsdale where she was born into a dairy farming family.
Her family, the Vincents, were pioneer settlers in the Wangaratta area but her father was a mover and came to Bairnsdale during the Depression.
Lorraine said the prime reason for this move was because of the Depression and the need to go where work could be found.
“We were in Bairnsdale for a while but moved to Thorpdale during the days of dairy farming in that area, which is now wellknown for its potato growing.”
Lorraine grew up with a brother, sister and two stepsisters.
“Mum died when we were at Thorpdale and dad remarried. We celebrate my stepmum’s 80th birthday this week.”
The family moved from Thorpdale to a dairy farm at Cranbourne, from hills to the easier flat country which meant Lorraine spent most of her primary schooling in Cranbourne.
She went on to Dandenong High School.
“I lived in Cranbourne from 1953 to 1959 and then went into my nursing training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Associated Hospitals School of Training.
“The school was a new system but shortlived because it drew too many staff away from the Royal.
“We had study blocks of six to eight weeks and this seemed to affect the hospital because of the loss of workforce.
“Nurses are now doing tertiary study and I think that is good.”
Lorraine completed her midwifery training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and then moved out to Dandenong Hospital.
But then she put her career on hold. She met Don Metcalfe and along came Wendy, Michael and Christopher.
Don was a property valuer working in the district and the two were bound to meet sooner of later.
“We married in Cranbourne, where my parents lived, and made our home in Dandenong.
“We moved to Narre Warren in 1981 and I chose to stay home to look after the children.”
This brought about a dramatic change in Lorraine’s life.
She was still a care giver and raised a fine family but this quiet and caring young mother took on something many would think rather adventurous.
She learned to fly planes.
“Don was working all over the state, and I had this idea that it could be handy if I had a pilot’s licence.
“I started taking lessons at Casey Airfield in the days of Colonel Hatfield and Bill Campbell.
“Later I moved to Moorabbin for more experience. I would put Chris in the back seat and off we would go.
“I really loved it and found it was a real adrenalin rush.”
Lorraine said getting her flying licence took lots of hard work.
“The mechanics of flying to me were a mystery so I would spend lots more time in planning my flights.”
Flying went on until the late 1980s until she turned back to nursing.
Lorraine’s career began to take hold again as the children grew older and it was off to Monash University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992.
Lorraine went to the hospital for an interview and they wanted her to start ‘yesterday’.
“I went to work at the former Berwick Bush Nursing Hospital and I can say that we were all disappointed when we had to give up the name for Berwick Hospital Inc,” she said.
That proved a turbulent time for the old and muchloved bush nursing hospital in Gibbs Street, a hospital that almost went the way of many other smaller hospitals.
Lorraine said it was a relief to see the St John of God organisation take over the hospital.
“St John of God opened the doors for a whole new range of things. We have broadened horizons. “The problem was that with the old hospital we could only do certain things on the limited budget.”
Lorraine Metcalfe now has a vital role to play in the new system as sister in charge of infection control.
She finds her work mentally stimulating because she has to keep up to date with the science behind infection control.
“Whether it is bird flu, SARS, or just ordinary influenza, personal hygiene is critically important.”
She is enthusiastic and optimistic about the growing St John of God Hospital at Berwick, and believed the sky was the limit.
Lorraine left everyone with one vital hint for the basis of infection control.
“If you wash your hands before moving on, you interrupt the progress of germs,” she said.