How Kelly, Natasha and Gold Coast Health teams show up for families facing the unimaginable.
A health crisis can affect anyone, at any time.
It could be a child requiring urgent care. A parent facing a life-changing diagnosis. Or a family suddenly finding themselves spending more time in hospital than at home.
In an instant, life can become a whirlwind of uncertainty. Work takes a back seat, plans are put on hold, and days become filled with appointments, procedures and waiting rooms as families try to navigate situations they never imagined facing.
When those moments happen, people aren’t thinking about how healthcare works behind the scenes. They’re focused on getting through the next hour, and when them or their loved one will be able to come home.
For our health teams, helping everyone get home is what matters most, and behind every set of scrubs is a person with a heart that, at times, breaks alongside yours.
“I don’t think there’s a nurse here who hasn’t cried over a patient,” says Natasha, a Clinical Nurse Consultant in Paediatric and Neonatal Complex Surgery at Gold Coast Health.
“I’ve sat there and celebrated those small wins, and I’ve sat there and cried when we felt lost in the journey together,” she adds.
Natasha (centre) and her colleagues, Stacy (left) and Kathryn (right), show up every day for our local patients and their families.
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This is the reality of what our health teams carry every day for every family and patient they support.
It is a reality most people never see.
“There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes,” Natasha says.
“People might see an admission or see us educating a family. But the reality of the role, and the reality for these families, is it’s every day, hour after hour. We don’t stop. We want to be there for them. For patients like Arlo, his support isn’t one week in hospital. It has been consistent hospital admissions for the past 15-months.”
“That can be the reality for some patients and families that people don’t see. The ongoing stress and burden can be relentless. That’s why we do what we do.”
For Natasha and her colleague Kelly, a Paediatric Nurse Navigator, that reality means showing up, completely, consistently and without limit, for some of the Gold Coast’s most medically complex children and the families who just want to have them home.
“We do whatever we can,” Kelly says. “If the family needs something, we try everything to support them and help them navigate the best way forward. When families are facing challenging situations, it’s important they know they have our support.”
Kelly (right) and her colleague Nathan (left) with our mascot, Betty Get Better.
That can mean recognising the things families often don’t have the time, energy or words to ask for. Whether that be the need for emergency accommodation so they can stay close to the hospital, navigating surgery schedules or appointments, or holding a parent’s hand when their child is going through life-saving surgery.
In these moments, it isn’t just a helping hand our health teams give, they also rely on having the best equipment available to them when those hard times happen.
Because when a family is facing one of life’s toughest moments, our staff shouldn’t be worrying about whether they have what they need. They should be able to focus entirely on the patient in front of them.
“Without the equipment we have, it limits what these patients can do,” Kelly says.
“It’s really important to have the best equipment available so these children can get better and thrive. Reliable access to this equipment can help save a child’s life.”
Through Gold Coast Hospital Foundation, community donations help place those vital resources directly into the hands of Gold Coast Health teams.
Natasha sees the Foundation’s impact every day.
“All the equipment, all the support and all the research is critical,” she says.
“If we can reduce a child’s length of stay, avoid a hospital admission, or make their journey more comfortable, then we’re doing our jobs. It’s all about improving recovery, quality of life and outcomes.”
“Gold Coast Hospital Foundation helps us achieve that. They have supplied equipment such as the Giraffe OmniBed, Blood Gas Analyser and specialised paediatric monitoring equipment have all supported the care of children like Arlo and many others across Gold Coast Health.”
For families, the impact of those resources often extends far beyond the hospital room. It means helping children get back to school, reconnect with friends and experience the moments that make up a normal childhood.
“I’ll stay back and review a child late in outpatients so they can go to school and not miss more education than they already have,” Natasha says.
“Or I might help create a plan so a child can go to their first sleepover feeling comfortable and confident.”
Every day our Gold Coast Health staff work tirelessly to support our loved ones, making sure they have the best chance to make it home.
Throughout Arlo’s journey, equipment funded by Gold Coast Hospital Foundation has supported his health teams and care across multiple departments.
In Special Care Nursery, a Giraffe OmniBed helped provide a carefully controlled environment during his earliest days of life, supporting staff to closely monitor and care for him when he was at his most vulnerable.
In the Emergency Department, Foundation-funded resources including a Blood Gas Analyser, Modsel Children’s Trolley Bed, Nitrous Oxide Administration Device, Sensory Toys and a Ceiling Projector supported both his treatment and hospital experience. Some helped clinicians rapidly assess his condition and make critical decisions, while others provided comfort and distraction during procedures and admissions. Something Arlo is far too familiar with.
As nutrition and growth became an ongoing focus of his care, donor-funded growth monitoring equipment helped clinicians track his development and guide important decisions about his treatment.
For Tiffany, these aren’t simply pieces of equipment sitting in a hospital. They are part of Arlo’s life-saving story.
A part of the care that has helped keep him safe.
A part of the reason health teams can respond quickly, make informed decisions and deliver the best possible care when it matters most.
Before Arlo’s journey, Tiffany never really thought about where hospital equipment came from.
“You assume that all the equipment needed will be there. I never realised that some of it would be thanks to donations, thanks to the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation.”
“In those moments when your child is needing high level care, having the right equipment means everything. It supports the health staff, and it helps save your loved one’s life. It is so important and I am grateful it was there when Arlo needed it. I realise now there is still more than can be done for the next person needing this level of care.”
Donor funded equipment helps ensure our health teams have the right resources when it matters most.
That feeling, of giving everything and still wondering if it’s enough, is something Kelly and Natasha carry quietly, the way most health professionals do.
Because the weight of this work doesn’t stay at the hospital.
It travels home. It sits with them. And the next day, they come back and do it all over again.
For Kelly, the reason is simple.
“The patients. The children. They’re so worth it. Seeing them get home, reach milestones and just get to be kids again makes everything worthwhile.”
Those moments are why they keep showing up.
They show up during emergencies, diagnoses, surgeries, setbacks, victories. And during the critical, life-changing moments families never expect to face.
For Kelly and Natasha, the impact of community support isn’t measured in reports or statistics. It’s seen in the lives of the children and families they support every day.
“Donations really do make a difference,” Natasha says.
“As healthcare professionals, we see that impact every day. The impact is tangible for both the families receiving the support and the healthcare teams as a whole. We see what appeals like Scrub Up September can do for us and the patients, and we are extremely grateful for the support.”
That’s why Scrub Up September matters.
Through donations, Gold Coast Hospital Foundation helps ensure our local health teams have immediate access to the vital equipment, services and support they need when critical challenges arise.
Because when it’s your child, your parent, your partner, your sibling, your friend, or your neighbour – nothing matters more than knowing the people caring for them have the right resources at the right time.
One heart can make a big difference. Support our local health teams and purchase a heart token today.
Every day, our health teams scrub up for us. This September, it’s our turn to scrub up for them.
Purchase a heart token, donate online, or get involved with Scrub Up Your Way to support the Gold Coast Health teams who show up for our loved ones every day.