Year-in-Review-2021-22 - Flipbook - Page 106
Tamasin Norris
How long have you worked in health?
I am coming up to ten years working in health.
I worked as an Assistant in Nursing for four years,
before becoming a Registered Nurse at RPA.
Before Public Health, I worked in Respiratory
Medicine where I enjoyed working with patients
with Interstitial Lung Disease and Cystic Fibrosis.
When COVID-19 first breached our shores, I worked
in COVID areas and cared for our first COVID patients.
It was a challenging time treating people with a
novel virus we didn’t yet understand, but was also
an exciting period for a Respiratory nurse with an
interest in infectious disease.
Where do you work?
I work in the Communicable Diseases Team in the
Public Health Unit (PHU). Our unit caters for all of the
suburbs in Sydney Local Health District, and we are
based at RPA Hospital.
What do you do?
My role as a Public Health Nurse is a varied one, my
team specialises in the management of notifiable
diseases in Sydney Local Health District. In other
words, we’re disease detectives! We are responsible
for the follow-up of infectious diseases and outbreaks
in residents of our Health District. This involves
investigating the source of infectious diseases and
their outbreaks, and controlling and preventing
ongoing transmission.
During the pandemic, a lot of our focus was on
COVID-19 and contact tracing, and strategies to
decrease transmission in the community. Our team
co-ordinated outbreak management within Aged
Care facilities, disability facilities and other venues
in the community. Now that COVID-19 has become
endemic, we are turning our attention to empowering
facilities with education and resources to manage
COVID independently, with assistance from the
PHU when needed.
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Now that the borders are open, and people are
returning to a new normal, we are seeing a return to
“business as usual”, and following up anything from
Legionella, to Meningococcal, to antibiotic resistant
bacteria and foodborne illnesses.
Why do you do what you do?
I find working with our community to manage
infectious disease a rewarding role, where I get to help
prevent disease and transmission and have a causative
effect, rather than just treating people once they are
ill. My role in the PHU has allowed me to work with
our more vulnerable communities such as residents in
disability group homes, educate disability group home
and aged care providers on outbreak control, and even
vaccinate out in the community in pop-up clinics for
lower socio-economic groups.
Something I will always be proud of is the difference
our team made during the pandemic. To be a part
of history, knowing we helped slow the spread of
COVID-19, afforded our community time to get
vaccinated, and helped save many lives, is something
I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of. Ultimately,
my role makes me feel like I make a difference, and
actively contribute to the wellbeing of my community.
What’s the best part of your day?
No day is the same in the PHU. One moment we will
be answering calls from the public asking for advice,
the next moment we are contact tracing a Hepatitis
A case, or responding to an outbreak of a vaccinepreventable disease in a childcare centre. That, in
itself, is something I love the most about the PHU,
every day is different, and you never know what is
around the corner.
Sydney Local Health District
