Elizabeth Turner

Our People 2018 - Elizabeth Turner - 1000pxl.jpg

Registered Nurse – Cardiac Rehabilitation

The Sutherland Hospital

“I supervise patients who have had some event with their heart and are participating in our gym program. They undertake an individualised, tailored exercise program, based on their personal circumstances. We also do a lot of education regarding exercise, diet, nutrition, managing smoking and medications. One of the talks I give is called ‘surviving the emotional rollercoaster.’  It’s about stress and how it affects our body and our heart specifically. We know that a lot of people are very affected emotionally after they’ve had an event.

I love our patients.  We see a range from late teens up to people in their 90’s.  Some of them have had some pretty ghastly experiences and they are inspirational how they get up and back into their normal day to day life.  When I met this one patient for the first time, he was so distressed I couldn’t even check his blood pressure. It was such a terrible shock to him. But by listening, support and education, over a couple of months he improved dramatically. He lost 14 centimetres from his waist.  He took it seriously, making a lot of changes, including giving up smoking. It’s so fantastic to see people achieve like that.”