April 24, 2019

Human to human connection the key to success in nursing

Karen Tuqiri delivers occasional address at science, medicine and health graduations.

Empathy, compassion and human connection.

These three qualities are what Karen Tuqiri, Director of Nursing at Prince of Wales Hospital, describes as “the heart of nursing”.

“Some people call this the ‘soft part’ of nursing, but working effectively with vulnerable people is a skill that can make the most difference to peoples lives,” she said.

“The qualities around working with people and maintaining the human to human connection are what makes an effective nurse.”

The other side, according to Ms Tuqiri, is competence in providing clinical care.

“We are a professional, highly skilled and educated workforce. We need to be leaders; we are with our patients 24/7 and we lead care, lead discussions that influence and impact on those we care for and advocate for our patients,” she said.

Ms Tuqiri delivered the Occasional Address at the autumn graduation celebration for the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health last night (Tuesday 23 April).

Working within the public health system at both hospital and local health district level, she has held a variety of nursing roles since commencing as a Registered Nurse at Prince of Wales Hospital in 1995, including the role of Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Wollongong Hospital.

A personal experience witnessing nurses in neonatal intensive care caring for a family member’s baby was the encouragement Ms Tuqiri needed to pursue a career in nursing.

“Fundamentally for me it was about helping people and wanting to provide care to people, but that experience definitely shifted something inside me and led to my career choice,” she said.

“I saw the compassion and what was involved.”

Ms Tuqiri believes one of the challenges facing tomorrow’s nurses is the explosion of technology into healthcare.

“We are working in an increasingly technological environment and our challenge is to figure out how we use technology in the best way possible to ensure the human to human connections are there.”

“We need to maintain the foundation of nursing and ensure that we are person-centred to the people we care for.”