With more than 25 years nursing experience Three Rivers was thrilled to welcome Michelle Scott as our new long term condition nurse navigator in August 2022.
Michelle helps patients with complex medical conditions in the community to navigate their way through the system.
Michelle works closely with our nurse navigator and prescriber Rachel Ferkins.
“The health system can be quite complex, especially when you have multiple health issues and lots of appointments to manage, and Rachel and I are here to help,” she says.
“We are very driven to achieve health equity and try to help patients and their whanau get access to the right care.”
“It’s very rewarding work as you build strong relationships based on trust.”
Michelle grew up in a farming family in Marekakaho in the Hawke’s Bay. She then spent many years in Clive and central Hawke’s Bay, where she completed her schooling before heading off to Manawatu Polytechnic in Palmerston North to do a three year Diploma of Nursing.
Her first job after graduating was at Gisborne Hospital where she worked first in an orthopaedic/gynaecology ward and then moved to the medical ward where she gained valuable experience nursing patients with long-term conditions.
After two years she then did her OE in London, England working as an agency nurse for two years.
“I did live-in jobs with wealthy people in the country who had butlers and cooks where I got chauffeured around. I also looked after wealthy Arabs who booked out hotel rooms in London – it was very interesting and like a window to another world in many respects.
As well as the private nursing she would also work in public hospitals on assignment with the agency.
“You got thrown into a lot of different areas of nursing – it might be a six week assignment somewhere or you would find out on the day which hospital or clinic you were needed in.
“It might be a neurology ward one day and district nursing the next, so you really had to be on the ball and adaptable,” Michelle says.
“We would work for a couple of months and then go travelling – it was a great way to see the world.”
“I loved London but it was so nice to come back to the sea. I think we kiwis are connected to the ocean.”
Her time in England and travelling around the world sparked a passion for travel, so when she returned to Gisborne she started a new career as a travel consultant at Flight Centre where she remained for six years.
When she and partner Steve started a family in 2001, she decided to return to nursing as being able to do shift work meant she and Steve could both work while raising their children Oliver and Alec.
The boys are now 19 and 21 and live at the family’s Mangapapa home with their partners.
“It’s a busy household especially if you count the two dogs and cats.”
Since going back to nursing at Gisborne Hospital in 2002, Michelle worked on the casual pool then the medical ward until 2013 when she moved to a specialist role as a clinical nurse specialist respiratory and clinical nurse specialist sleep apnoea in Tui te Ora.
It was here she worked with Three Rivers nurse practitioner Natasha Ashworth, who encouraged her to apply for a role with us.
Michelle’s role at Tui te Ora as a clinical nurse specialist involved managing a nurse-led sleep clinic, assessing and diagnosing patients with sleep apnoea. This included setting up and interpreting home sleep studies, then starting patients on CPAP or BiPAP (Continuous/BiLevel Positive Airway Pressure) therapy with ongoing monitoring.
“It was a very busy clinic. Good quality sleep is so important and it was very important helping patients achieve that. A lot of patients with long-term conditions have sleep apnoea and my knowledge has already been beneficial in my new role assisting patients in their homes solve issues with their CPAP equipment.”
Michelle completed a post-graduate Diploma in Health Science in 2017. She studied part-time over five years while also working at Gisborne Hospital. Her next study will be registered nurse prescribing which will be very beneficial in her current role.
“I’m really enjoying being part of the team at Three Rivers.
“It’s a very supportive environment.”
