GOV.GG
Staff nurse on Victoria Wing, Marlies Kirisits, is from Austria and she hails from a family of carers - her father is a GP, her mum a nurse.
She trained, and began her career, at the General Hospital in Vienna, qualifying in 2016, first working on a surgical ward, then as part of the transplant team.
Keen to improve her English and work in the UK, she headed to Great Britain, initially working as a carer and support worker in Scotland. While awaiting her UK registration, she briefly returned to Vienna, working for the Red Cross then, in March last year, a job opportunity in Guernsey caught her eye. Marlies arrived in Guernsey in May.
'Everyone was so nice and welcoming. To me, the Island was mesmerising. I was looking for a place that was close to nature and I had always wanted to live close to the sea.'
Marlies works as a Staff Nurse on Victoria Wing, the only private Ward at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital. The Ward cares for a variety of different patients including surgical, medical, oncology and end of life care, enabling staff to learn and gain a variety of different skills in the same area.
'Working on this ward offers me such variety. It's such a joy to work with people. I like to see more than just the illness, I like to see the person as a whole.'
She said making the move to Guernsey was the perfect next step for her.
'For a young nurse it's the perfect place to learn, everyone has been so supportive, especially with training.'
Within a couple of weeks of arriving, Marlies was taking part in specific palliative training, to help her best care for patients requiring end of life care.
'I feel like I have a lot of time to care for my patients at such a critical time in their lives.'
Marlies said the work life balance that Guernsey offered was unlike anywhere else she had worked.
'Unlike a big city there is no long commute, no rushing around, I take a short walk to the Ward surrounded by greenery, which puts me in a great place to start a shift.'
Find out more about working on Victoria Wing, and how to apply:
Staff Nurse (Band 5), Private - Medical/Surgical:
