Ebony embraces new and unexpected challenges

Mater Registered Nurse Ebony Blewer couldn’t decide what career she wanted to pursue but after working with the tiniest babies in Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU) she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

Ebony has been working at Mater as a registered nurse for a year since completing her Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Queensland and an NCCU Graduate course.

“The NCCU Graduate course was a very intense year of training and preparation for the role. Originally I couldn’t decide what career I wanted to pursue so nursing was appealing to me, there are countless opportunities and pathways that this career can provide,” Ebony said. 

“Nursing provides ongoing interaction with people, continuous education and leadership opportunities plus it’s very easy to change course if you so choose.

“The NCCU was particularly appealing to me because it was a dynamic and challenging environment. I really enjoy being there for families during the most important time of their lives.”

Ebony not only enjoys caring for premature and seriously ill babies but their families as well.  She has recently written a conference abstract focusing on the emotional wellbeing of parents while their child is in NCCU.   

“For an assignment I wrote a literature review doing a psychological analysis of mothers who had a baby with a low birth weight and were spending time in NCCU,” Ebony said.

“My graduate coordinator loved it and recommended I write it as an abstract to be considered for a medical conference. I was accepted and I will present this at the Australian Midwifery Conference in April followed up with a Q&A.

“I am really pleased about this as I wrote the piece with a lot of heart and soul. When having a baby not many people consider the possibility of complications and they are thrown into the world of NCCU very quickly.”

Now Ebony is in this world too and she says she never wants to do anything else, stating every day is different bringing with it new and unexpected challenges.

“I want to continue working in the NCCU and potentially further my career into research. I will never stop learning in this role, I work with a fantastic team who recognise different talents in every team member,” Ebony said.

“The team knows we have a great reputation across Australia. At Mater you could not find a better place to work or train. It’s the biggest NCCU in Queensland and Northern New South Wales.” 

Ebony said while the NCCU is an amazing place to work, it also has its challenges acknowledging it’s the team who get you through the tough times.

“It took me a long time to learn how to manage the unit and the reality of the job I am doing. We do everything we can for these babies but some days just don’t go to plan and we are lucky we can lean on each other and we always have a shoulder to cry on,” Ebony said.

“We have an awesome team who inspire me every day. There are some staff in this building who have been here for 20-30 years, they wouldn’t be here that long if it wasn’t an amazing place to work,” Ebony said.

“I have mentors in the NCCU who have inspired me, plus team leaders, educators and my manager Angela who is such a caring person, she is always ready to help us.

“For me Mater felt like home and I am so very grateful to have the opportunity to work here.”