Plunket nurse farewelled

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 483, 27 April 1993, Page 5

Plunket nurse farewelled

By

Jan

iSavell

Waiouru mothers bid a tearful farewell to Jean MacLean at the Plunket looms recently. Jean is leaving the area to take up a staff midwife position at the Post Natal ward of Palmerston North Hospital. On Monday 29 March local mothers booked out the last hour of appointments and surprised her with an impromptu farewell party. "We're really going to miss her," said Debbie Taylor, one of her clients. "Jean was not afraid to get down on the floor and be with the kids. She was a real friend. Nothing was too big a problem." Another mother echoed Debbie's sentiments "Twice Jean gave me her home phone number. I think that shows how dedi-

cated she was to the job. We were real people to her and she would do anything she could to help us." Jean MacLean came to New Zealand in March 1990, initially to take up a position as staff midwife at the Taihape Rural Health Centre. Six months later she began caring for mothers and babies in their own homes when she became the Plunket nurse for Waiouru, Taihape and surrounding districts. Jean has a special love for babies and this has been evident throughout her career which includes community and hospital nursing and midwifery. In South Africa she operated her own private baby clinic, general practitioners recommending her to expectant mothers. She really enjoyed the work but

found she couldn't refuse anyone, whether they had money to pay or not. The New Zealand Plunket philosophy of care available for everyone appealed to her immensely. Jean's background also includes military service

which she believes helped her understand and empathise with the mothers in Waiouru. Whatever it was, Jean has certainly made a lot of friends in the community. "Some of the children think of me as their grandmother and that is just fine too" she said.