There is only one week left for eligible employees to RSVP to this year’s Length of Service Awards.
If you have received an invitation, but have not yet RSVPed – please do!
Even if you cannot attend the event, your RSVP will help us to finalise numbers and catering, and ensure we have your up-to-date postal address to send your recognition pack following the event.
Lisa Connolly is celebrating 40 years with Monash Health
At this year’s event, we will be celebrating people like Lisa Connolly, who has reached 40 years of service with Monash Health.
Lisa has always had a strong passion for both nursing and teaching, and at Monash Health, she never had to choose between them.
“I’m a Clinical Nurse Consultant for Stomal Therapy and Wound Management at Dandenong, so I help support and educate patients in regard to their stoma care for independent discharge as well as a lot of staff and carer education,” she said.
“Being able to do both has been just fantastic.”
Lisa has been in the role since 1996, but started with Monash Health 13 years before as a Surgical Nurse at Dandenong.
“I remember my first day because it was a week after the Ash Wednesday bushfires,” she said.
A stomal therapy position became vacant three years later in 1986, and Lisa never looked back – picking up further qualifications in advanced wound care and breast care along the way that led her to where she is today.
While the team now includes four people, and she’s no longer responsible for breast care, Lisa did the role independently until about 8 years ago.
“I’m on a retirement plan now, but I’m not ready to let go yet because it was my baby for so long, so I’ve decided to keep working casually,” she said.
“The department has grown so much in that time, where we went from having about 70 stoma patients to well over 200 now.”
Known for being knowledgeable, kind and quite the extrovert, Lisa turned a presentation on high-density foam mattresses to the Director of Nursing, into an opportunity to be the face of the Rights and Responsibilities brochure roughly 20 years ago.
“The day I presented, they had to pick two nurses to be the face of these brochures, and for so long afterwards people would reach out to my family and say, hey, I saw your mum on the posters in the ED!”
Lisa also took further opportunities throughout her career to hone her love of teaching, including teaching clinically at Victoria College (now Deakin University) and at Box Hill.
Despite her amazing work accomplishments, Lisa feels her greatest achievement remains raising three gorgeous children – which she did while working full time.
“I’ve moved down to the Peninsula, so when I do retire completely, I’ll be able to spend as much time with them and my four grandchildren as I can, who also live there.”
We look forward to celebrating with Lisa, and all of our Length of Service recipients on Thursday 23 November.
Approved by Louise Kanis, Executive Director, Communication and Engagement