Marjorie Davidson jokes that she still has nightmares about not having a clean nursing uniform to wear to work.
She started nursing in 1959 and worked in various strands of the profession for almost 60 years until she retired at the age of 75.
She now lives at the Carinity Clifford House aged care home in Brisbane and marvels at how much nursing practices have changed - and astounded by modern medical and technological advances.
Marjorie commenced her nursing career in general nursing in Bendigo, then progressed to maternity nursing.
"It was just at the end of the polio epidemic, and we still had all the iron lungs in place in the hospital," she recalls.
"Back then there wasn't the diagnostic aids and also there wasn't the treatment for heart conditions like there is now.
"In the infectious disease part of the hospital they were still admitting people with tuberculosis and meningitis."
"The first job you had to do on an afternoon shift was to scrub the inside of this massive copper container until it was shiny.
"It was about ten times the size of a cement mixer and was where they put all the infected linen, so nobody wanted to work in infectious diseases!"
Marjorie then spent 13 years in Papua New Guinea caring for people with ailments ranging from malaria and chest infections to skin diseases and leg ulcers.
"It was a very isolated area with clouds of mosquitoes day and night and crocodiles. Almost every shift somebody died, and often two people died," she said.
"The government used to supply us cough mixture in 44-gallon drums."
Marjorie believes the biggest change in nursing that she witnessed was the advent of disposable needles.
"It was a major breakthrough because previously we had to reuse needles and sterilise them. To sterilise things in the tropical heat I had to stoke up a wood stove to boil them. My husband used to sharpen the needles for me."
Upon returning to Australia in the 1980s, Marjorie's attention turned to aged care nursing.
"Now in aged care it's much better because when I worked we didn't have any hoists to lift residents. There are a lot of things now which are very helpful," she said.
Like Marjorie, nursing has taken Swasti Gurung abroad to work in aged care. The Carinity Clifford House Clinical Nurse began her career in Nepal almost a decade ago.
She previously worked in a hospital ward assisting with endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures. Then she moved to Australia and gained qualifications for her current role caring for seniors.
"I love aged care nursing. I love the different kinds of connection you can have with older people. It makes me so happy that I'm here to help," Swasti said.
"In aged care you are able to listen to the beautiful and different stories of all the residents, and you can connect with them and their families in a professional way."
Swasti says nurses today need to adapt to changing technology and processes.
"They used to have paper medical charts but now it's all digital. We have ongoing training all the time just to keep up with all the new technologies so everyone is up to date," she said.
Later in her career, Marjorie became involved in looking after young people affected by drugs.
"We looked after about 400 young people on our own property, at our own expense. Eventually we set up a rehab in centre in Toowoomba which has been going for 25 years," Marjorie said.
She finished up working in disability care, before retiring at the age of 75.
Carinity is honouring our nurses on International Nurses Day, a global day of celebration which is held annually on May 12.
