TARA KING
Allied Health Assistant, Latrobe Regional Hospital

After 14 years at Centrelink, Tara began working as an Allied Health Assistant at Latrobe Regional Hospital in December 2021. Just weeks into the job she found herself in a new role supporting the wards and Emergency Department with the care and treatment of COVID-positive and general patients.

It’s actually been a really good learning opportunity. In the Allied Health Assistant role, I was taking patients from the rehab ward to the physio gym and back. Now I’m assisting the nurses and able to learn more about what they do. I’m also able to learn more about the patients.

I get to provide more personal care for the patients which I wouldn’t have done as an Allied Health Assistant – things like feeding and drinking and little jobs the patients can’t do themselves such as getting dressed, which their family might have helped with if they were allowed to visit.

I take the time to have a chat with the patients because they do miss having a family member or friend sit in the room with them.

The pandemic has given me the opportunity to see how a hospital works and what the staff do. It’s given me a different appreciation of healthcare – all the things behind the scene you wouldn’t usually see. The nurses do such a fantastic job.