A changing of the guard has set upon the East Grampians Health Service with three new nurse unit managers assuming their roles.
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Chris Jordan has taken over the position at Lowe Street, Liz Atkinson has accepted the position at EGHS' Willaura campus and Natalie Wohlers has also been appointed at Garden View Court.
Mrs Jordan said her impression of Lowe Street was that it was a "happy place".
"The residents get pretty well looked after, we try to make sure the staff are happy and provide care - we love our residents," she said.
Mrs Jordan started her career as an enrolled nurse many moons ago, before finding herself working in Ararat, Stawell, Melbourne and then returning home.
"I worked here for quite some time when I had my two girls and then I decided I would go to Aradale," she explained.
"I never dreamt of going to the mental hospital back in 1985, I did that along with quite a few other girls and loved every minute of that."
"One of my friends up there said let's do our psych nursing at Aradale so we did our three years until 1992."
Following the birth of Mrs Jordan's third child, she went back to forensics before returning to university to become a registered nurse.
Mrs Jordan completed her grad year at Stawell Regional Health and remained there until 2003, before moving to EGHS be manage the Willaura campus for 13 years.
In 2017 she moved to night shifts in Ararat before being asked to cover for the manager of Lowe Street while they were on leave.
"I then got rang up to say she was going off and not going back and I was asked if I would take over for good," she explained.
"Being on nights you don't get to see everyone but now it is great knowing everyone, they are so good with the residents.
"I just praise Lowe Street, I love working there. I have had a pretty good extensive nursing career about 50 years of nursing. I have had lots of changes, I can't just keep doing the same thing and I have loved every minute of it."
After seeking a career change to nursing in 2011, Liz Atkinson graduated from university with a bachelor's degree and completed her grad year at EGHS in 2015, which included stints at Lowe Street, theatre, and the inpatient unit.
The following year, Mrs Atkinson obtained a position in the inpatient unit at EGHS and remained there for seven years before making her way up to the associate nurse unit manager (ANUM) within the inpatient unit.
"I was quite happy in that position, I loved working in IPU and I loved working in urgent care," she said.
"They were then asking for people who were able to cover holiday leave for nurse unit managers so I ended up doing a stint of four weeks out at Willaura which I really enjoyed."
Hailing from Lake Bolac, Mrs Atkinson always aimed to work at Willaura long-term, although was prepared to wait for the opportunity.
"I always had a good feeling about that place out at Willaura," she said.
"Then the unit manager position at Garden View Court came up so I thought I'd give it a crack and it would be a good place to start because your in Ararat and you have that support."
Mrs Atkinson was successful in obtaining the position at Garden View Court however, only weeks into the position she was surprised to see the position open up in Willaura.
"It was a hard decision to make as Willaura was where I wanted to be so I applied for that and got that position," she said.
"I have only been there a few months but I have already settled in really well.
'I do thoroughly enjoy being out there it does have its challenges because we are isolated from Ararat."
Mrs Atkinson said she hoped to stick around for when the Willaura facility received its timely upgrade.
"I want to make some changes in the facility, I want to upskill some of the nurses out there so we can provide a higher level of care," she explained.
"We are looking at a big refurbishment of the facility to bring it up to standard, it will be a very exciting time."
Natalie Wohlers started at EGHS in 2007 as a personal carer at Garden View Court, before deciding to upskill five years later.
"Once I upskilled to become an enrolled nurse and I couldn't stay at Garden View Court because they only had personal carers so I went to Lowe Street," she said.
Six years later Mrs Wohlers decided to upskill once again and become a registered nurse, completing her grad year at EGHS.
"I was basically working after my grad year in district nursing and palliative care before taking over the position left by Liz (Atkinson) at Garden View Court," she explained.
"My work at EGHS has gone full circle."
Mrs Wohlers said she has felt really welcome in her first month on the job.
"It has been really busy but really rewarding," she said.
"Everyone has been beautiful, the staff are fantastic the residents are unbelievable.
"I think all the facilities we all work in are the same, everyone is so welcoming in these places, it is like its own little community."
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