Tribute to nursing colleague.Our friend and nursing colleague Gaylene Welch was knocked down by a car while shopping in May. She died three days later of a head injury. One of the items she was carrying was a packet of daffodil daffodil: see amaryllis. daffodil Bulb-forming flowering plant (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), also called common daffodil or trumpet narcissus, native to northern Europe and widely cultivated there and in North America. It grows to about 16 in. bulbs, ready to post. For three days, she had been sending them to those who had supported her during a difficult work experience. Gaylene's nursing career spanned around 30 years, initially as a community nurse. We worked with her at what was ward 10D at Auckland Hospital She had previously been employed at the Sutherland Spinal Unit. last Christmas she resigned from Auckland Hospital and jumped at the chance of a job in a private hospital for the elderly mentally ill, thinking it would be less of a physical toll. The job did not suit her, which was devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. for her. However, she was excited at the offer of a position at Selwyn Village near her home. She was to start the week after her death. Gaylene's million-dollar smile endeared her to everyone. Her sense of humour Noun 1. sense of humour - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humor, humor, humour carried us through tricky moments on the ward. One colleague recalls how she would ask Gaylene to go to patients needing calming. She was immensely popular among workmates, always willing to go the extra mile. Outside work, Gaylene cared for all creatures great and small All Creatures Great and Small was the title given to a compilation volume first published in 1972 comprising James Herriot's first two novels, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet , mainly those hungry, weak or sick. Her earnings had to cover their food and veterinary fees. One day she came to work, shamefacedly shame·faced adj. 1. Indicative of shame; ashamed: a shamefaced explanation. 2. Extremely modest or shy; bashful. , admitting she had taken her beloved three-legged collie collie, breed of large, agile working dog developed in Scotland during the 17th and 18th cent. It stands from 22 to 26 in. (55.9–66 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 50 to 75 lb (22.7–34 kg). for a walk in a cemetery, but her dog fell into an open grave and Gaylene jumped in to rescue it. She had to call out to an elderly gentleman to help them both out. Her other passion was Scottish music due to her heritage. She played the bagpipes bagpipes Noun, pl a musical wind instrument in which sounds are produced in reed pipes by air from an inflated bag bagpipes npl → gaita sg bagpipes and drums. In the 1970s, she made' history in Scotland, according to a newspaper headline, as the first female to be accepted into a pipe band. Sadly, Gaylene had been widowed and was childless. She is survived by her father and three brothers, and is greatly missed by her family, friends and colleagues. Lynne Scott, Lynn McClaren, Nel Creevey and Doreen Arapai, RNs, Auckland. |
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