HUMANS OF THE HOSPITAL: Clare Kendrick

“When someone is unwell or passes away, I like to be the one to sit there with the doctors and the family and it’s a bit of closure for me as well. It makes you remember that the person you’re caring for is loved by somebody. The stories that shine bright in my memory are the ones where I’ve sat with a grieving family member. For one gentleman, we’d just told him that his wife had passed away and he just broke down and said “she was my best mate” and I’ve never forgotten that. I sat and got teary with him.

This month it will be 17 years that I’ve clocked up at Westmead Hospital. When I think about my career and why I decided to become a nurse, it really was to help people. It’s not just about the patient – I love that I can be an ear and a voice for the patient’s families, particularly when they’re struggling with understanding or managing the condition that their loved one is suffering from.

I think to be a nurse is a privilege and you have to really have that empathy and compassion. I love to use that when I’m delivering education or even just guiding people in their career paths and making decisions for their futures. I think that’s what I love the most – hopefully creating an amazing next generation of nurses that come through.”

– Clare Kendrick is a registered nurse at Westmead Hospital. She has been seconded to a nurse educator role for the Code Black project for WSLHD. Prior to this, she has mostly worked as Dementia Delirium Aged Care CNC Westmead Hospital.

‘Humans of the Hospital’ is dedicated to the inspiring humans working at Westmead, Blacktown, Mount Druitt Auburn and Cumberland hospitals in western Sydney.