Mackay’s Maggie Fenner has retired twice from nursing – but her love for her work at Mater Private Hospital Mackay keeps her coming back.
Maggie has been part of Mater’s palliative care team for three decades and says the area is a ‘blessing’ to work in.
This week (May 21-27) is Palliative Care Week – a time to increase awareness of palliative care and celebrate the staff who work in the sector.
“Palliative comes from palliare, the Latin word for a cloak, because you really are embracing people, making them as comfortable as possible, as they approach the end of their life,” Maggie said.
Maggie was 40 when she completed her first shift in a palliative care unit and she soon decided to specialise in the field.
“I did a few evening shifts in the palliative care unit and I gradually got more and more interested in it,” she said.
“I was lucky to go to England to learn about Dame Cicely Saunders, who pioneered the idea of palliative care worldwide – and I was also fortunate to meet her.”
Dame Saunders founded the concept of ‘total pain’, which encompasses a person’s physical, psychological, social, spiritual and practical needs.
“Cicely worked closely with soldiers from the war and wanted to better understand their pain,” Maggie said.
“She became a doctor, before also starting a hospice to ensure these people didn’t die with physical or mental pain.”
While Maggie continues to be passionate about palliative care, her other love has required her to take a step back from full-time work.
“I look after my disabled husband, who is an ex-doctor, which is really my top priority. However I really enjoy sharing any knowledge I can with the team here and am still learning off them too,” she said.
“I’m down to about four or five hours a week of work, when I am able to get a carer for my husband, but it’s so lovely to come in because it is like a big family here.”
Maggie’s colleague, palliative care unit Registered Nurse Amanda Barnes, agreed.
“You form real connections with not only patients but their families too, because providing palliative care to a patient is not generally a fast process, it can be months,” Ms Barnes said.
“We are so privileged to be with these people and their families at this time in their life – in many cases, there are no cures for the conditions these patients do have, so both the patients and their families do become like a second family who you want to make as comfortable as possible, giving them the comfort they need before the end.
“Maggie has taught us a lot – she’s been hands on for so long and has so much knowledge that even now when she can only come in for a few hours at a time we value them so.”
Mater Private Hospital Mackay General Manager Elizabeth Thomas said Palliative Care Week offered a timely opportunity to recognise Mater’s full-circle compassionate care.
“Mater Private Hospital Mackay has proudly offered palliative care services to the Mackay and Central Queensland community for decades now, and it is a service we are proud to continue providing into the future,” Ms Thomas said.
“We are fortunate to have an incredibly passionate palliative care team, with more people just as dedicated as Maggie and Amanda, who provide the exceptional compassionate care Mater is known for.”
Members of Mater Mackay's palliative care unit - Sarah Smith, Maggie Fenner and Amanda Barnes
