Being on dialysis is a big commitment, it involves being plugged into a machine for about five hours a day, three times a week while your blood is filtered and replenished.
For many people with kidney failure there is no alternative to this unless they are fortunate enough to receive a transplant.
Some patients endure these endless rounds of hospital appointments for over 20 years.
Many people living in the Bowen, Collinsville and Proserpine areas would need to travel down to Mackay for treatment and this travel time added extra stress to the already lengthy commitment.
That was until three years ago when the satellite Renal Ward was opened at the Bowen Hospital enabling six locals to receive treatment closer to home.
Late last year the ward was expanded to service 12 patients in a modern and uplifting unit overlooking Bowen and the Coral Sea.
Nurse Maggie Staggs is one of the friendly faces to greet patients as they come into the Renal Ward.
“We only have 12 patients here so you get to know them really well - you get to meet their families and celebrate their birthdays,” she said.
“I really enjoy that about Renal Nursing, and the team here are really fantastic.”
Maggie did her nursing training in Melbourne after she finished high school and specialised in operating room nursing.
For the past 40 years she has used her qualifications to live all over the world in places like England, Dubai, Canada and most recently New Zealand.
A desire to be closer to her family enticed her back to Australia in 2018 and she spent two years living in Mount Isa before heading for a sea change in Bowen.
She brought her two dogs with her and purchased an old Queenslander in town which she now spends much of her free time renovating.
At almost 64 years old, Maggie says that she is grateful for the opportunity to retrain and discover a new passion in nursing so late in her career.
“As a nurse it is really marvellous to retrain in something that I didn’t know anything about,” she said.
“To have that opportunity to do something local in Bowen that helps the community, it’s been really marvellous.”
Nurse Maggie Staggs with Kenneth Cora who has been receiving kidney dialysis for the past three years. Photo credit: Rachael Smith
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