Complex wound care is evolving, because it has to. Behind every pressure injury or spinal injury wound is a person trying to get their life back. This is the story of how one patient sparked a national nursing movement built on compassion, innovation, and continuity of care.
In 2004, fresh out of university, I began my post-graduate nursing career in one of Sydney’s leading spinal units. One of my first patients had sustained both a spinal cord injury and severe burns in a devastating car accident. He was young, just like me and his recovery would be long and complex.
Each day, I assisted experienced clinicians as they dressed his wounds using an intricate papier-mâché technique. These sessions were intense two hours of pain management, precision, and care. I soon found myself giving up my breaks just to learn more.
It was there, in those quiet early mornings, that my passion for wound care was born.
Driven by purpose, I pursued a Master’s in Wound Care and was soon appointed to a state-wide leadership role in complex spinal wound management. I travelled across New South Wales, supporting patients from regional towns and coordinating with metro hospitals.
But the deeper I got, the more frustrated I became.
Why were patients flown into Sydney just for a 1-hour appointment?
Why were we spending thousands on ambulance transport and CareFlight flights?
Why were patients with pressure injuries made to lie on trolleys for 12+ hours?
The system wasn’t just inefficient, it was inhumane.
At just 24, I was exhausted. I knew there had to be a better way.
After taking a break from the public system, I accepted an offer to develop a private wound care program in partnership with a community care organisation. My very first client? That same patient from my early nursing days.
From hospital to community, from burns unit to home care, we had come full circle.
Years later, after moving to Queensland and stepping back into public health, a former client found me through the internet. That single connection reignited my belief that wound care could be done differently and done better.
That’s when Holistic Nursing Solutions (HNS) was born.
What started as one client has now grown into a multi-state, nurse-led network delivering expert complex wound care across the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney, and regional NSW.
We don’t just provide care. We advocate. We educate. And we deliver outcomes.
Recently, a Sydney hospital called to ask if we could help with a discharge for a complex patient. He had multiple pressure injuries, was malnourished, and struggling to access NDIS support.
It was him, my first patient.
His story had come full circle again, and this time we were equipped with a dedicated team across NSW and QLD. We advocated for better funding, coordinated his care, and ensured he remained in the community not a hospital bed.
Today, he’s thriving, still one of our clients, still writing his story with the help of a wound care team that believes in better.
Stock images used for our story. Not the actual person being referred to in this story.
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