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Today's Featured Biography

Meredith Spencer

Professional Milestones
I became a registered nurse in 1971 and in 1973 moved from Adelaide to Melbourne to gain qualifications as a midwife (obstetric nurse). I have lived the rest of my life in Melbourne. I gained qualification in Intensive Care Nursing and followed this with qualifications in Coronary Care Nursing (today these qualifications are combined and are termed Critical Care Nursing). I moved to a 300 bed private hospital to commission a new Coronary Care Unit and establish cardiac surgical services. I remained at this hospital for 17 years achieving positions in middle management of nursing services and then joined the Executive team as an Operations Director.
I returned to the public sector as a Director of Nursing in small 110 bed community hospital, being appointed to the General Manager position of the community hospital and Chief Nurse of the Health Service (3 acute hospitals). I completed my career in another 245 bed community hospital as the Director of Nursing in addition to being the Operations Manager for Women’s & Children’s Services for the Health Service. I retired in September 2007.

Personal Journey
I moved from Adelaide to Melbourne in 1973. Travelling became an important focus within my life and in ’74 I went to England & Europe for 3 months – had a great time and confirmed my love of travel. I was fortunate that my eldest sister, Beth married an Italian and lived in Rome, so I always had a base in Europe. I travelled again in 1980, this time for 5 months. I met my husband, Colin (an architect specialising in hospitals) in 1981 and we married in 1982.
I inherited three wonderful stepchildren – Justin, Benjamin and Brooke and we had our son, Lachlan in ’86. The family has been a great unit with the older children accepting their younger half brother as a full member of their family.
In ’93 I did a study tour of American hospitals and on completion of this I was able to reconnect with my American sister, Beth Huettig in Milwaukee, join Colin and Lachlan in a holiday at Disneyland and then met up with the family I had been billeted with just before my return to Oz in ’68.
It now feels strange that we are becoming senior citizens, but feel I have had a wonderfully full and interesting life. Of course there have been the sad times when first my American Mom died, followed a few years later by my American Dad. My own parents died within 10 months of each other in 2000 and more recently I was saddened by the death of my American sister Carol Huettig.
Colin and I have moved from our home to an apartment closer to the city on the shore of the small river that runs through Melbourne. We alternate our time here with time at a unit we have at the beach an hour and a half away at the heads of Port Phillip Bay. We hope to spend more time travelling around Australia and overseas.

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