A team at work and at home
D3's Mark and June attended the same University in the Philippines and graduated together. However, they only met when preparing for their Nursing Board Exams. Now they are married, have a family, and work together on D3. Here is their story in their own words.
“June was late during one of our subjects, and I was often seated at the back during lectures. June sat beside me and I noticed that she wasn't really listening and was out of focus, so I asked her if I could do a technique to make her awake and help her refocus.
The technique involved holding her hand and pinching it below the thumb, and I'm sure it wasn't pleasant for her, but that's how we started, and I admit that was a slick move on my part. Haha! Then, the rest was history.
We migrated to Canada in 2018, living in Montreal for a few years. While both of us were working in factories, we processed our RN license under CNO and eventually passed it.
Afterward, we moved to Gatineau in 2022, and luckily enough, one of our friends was having her SPEP training in QCH; that's where she introduced us to this Hospital. I applied for SPEP training and was hired in D3 in October 2022. After I finished my training, June followed and was also hired in D3.
QCH has become our second home, and from what we experienced in D3, it reflects QCH as an organization.
There was a dilemma on how to work full-time because our kids were still too young to be alone at home. So, I volunteered to do casual, and June would be full-time in D3, and she heartfully agreed.
“Always working on different shifts, we try to balance work and home. As they say, ‘Teamwork makes the dream work!’”
The smooth hiring process would not have been possible if our previous manager, Alana Waumsley, had not considered our request. She paved the way for D3 to be what it is right now, which is diversely cultured and respects the staff, patients and family members.
D3 has solid teamwork, and all the staff are friendly and willing to help, especially if you're not from the unit or a novice colleague. Furthermore, we are very lucky to have Robin Denis and Hayley Dodunski as our leaders in the unit.”
#HumansOfQCH