Humans of Healthscope with Enrolled Nurse Shauna Wilson
A powerful story, a positive impact
Shauna Wilson is all about positive change - educating, informing, and improving the world around her by generously sharing her lived experience. Whether it is touching the lives of her colleagues and oncology patients as an Enrolled Nurse at John Fawkner Private Hospital; actively making contributions through the Australian College of Nursing (ACN); or her advocacy for diversity and inclusion everywhere, Shauna is driven to share in ways that beautifully blend the personal and professional. Her story is certainly a powerful one, so much so that she will publish her memoir, You say different – I say individual, in just a few weeks. As with so much Shauna does, her book is aimed at educating and informing on topics often misunderstood and frequently considered taboo including her life and health as a happily married transgender woman today, following a tumultuous life journey that would have brought many undone. Today, Shauna says she wants to leave a positive imprint, and to inform and educate in ways that encourage people to be happier and more understanding. “I often think if I don’t act, or do something, who will?”
Just one example of her contribution is as Co-Chair of the College of Nursing’s Diversity and Inclusion Working Party, which included developing the now published Nursing Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion Guiding Principles for Australian nursing. “I have and will continue to believe nurses and midwives are in the best position to advocate for a safe, equitable and inclusive health care environment for all,” Shauna writes in her foreword to document “With the trust placed in nurses and midwives to care for loved ones, we are well-placed to engage and influence broader society.” Her influencing and involvement through the College is extensive, “I currently Chair the ACN’s Enrolled Nurses Community of Interest, and I was a member of the ACN COVID-19 taskforce at its peak. I was also a member of the Men In Nursing Working Party focusing on encouraging more men into nursing.” A frequent speaker at conferences and to students, she is passionate about nursing and the role of ENs. She is proud that John Fawkner Private Hospital is one of the very rare hospitals locally that involve ENs in oncology care.
Starting at John Fawkner not long before COVID hit and the hospital opened COVID and suspected COVID wards, that period was intense for both patient care and also for Shauna and her colleagues. “It brought on your own anxieties. It was a concerning time. You didn’t want to risk your own family’s health or your patients who were often already so vulnerable.” Her affection for her workmates and patients is heart-warming. “We are all close and very involved. We are a real family of nurses, equally sharing the intimacy of our patients’ treatments and emotional journeys with them and each other. You do get very close to your patients and that does come with grieving deaths as well as celebrating recoveries and good outcomes. We support each other.”
“Those mountains you see as too high and too steep to climb can, although difficult and emotionally draining, be conquered. Do not give up on yourself and think it’s all too hard, “ Shauna says on her memoir’s website. “Life is too short to be a victim to your own self-doubts. You can get to what is in your reach, if you just believe.”
Shauna’s book it available for pre-order at $24.95 including postage until June. “Get in early,” she jokes, “it’s $35 once it’s published next month!” Shauna Wilson – You Say Different: I Say Individual
