Knights Bring Experience, Family Values to Waikato Hospital

For some Waikato Hospital staff, work is a family affair. It’s not unusual for husbands and wives or sibling sets to work for such a large organisation, but it’s rare for four members of one family to share the same employer. This week Waikato Hospital will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the first operation so it's timely to acknowledge our staff who work there today. Other staff profiles appear on www.waikatodhb.health.nz/forstaff

Hamilton couple Len and Diana Knight have worked at Waikato Hospital since the 1970s, and their two daughters Gemma and Victoria have recently taken up positions at the hospital.

All work in different roles and departments across the hospital’s main Wairoa Waikato campus in Hamilton.

Diana is an associate charge nurse manager in the hospital’s busy Emergency Department (ED), where she has worked since 1981. She started her career with the Waikato District Health Board as a hospital aide in 1974, and trained to become a nurse on-site.

Len – who recently celebrated his 60th birthday – is facilities manager at Waikato Hospital, and oversees emergency and security incidents on campus. He spent 17 years as a duty manager running the hospital after-hours, and has worked his way up from his first job as an attendant in 1974.

Gemma, 27, also works in ED as a registered nurse, and Victoria, 25, is a radiation therapist. Both are recent graduates who chose to work at Waikato Hospital, because of their parents’ enthusiasm for the organisation and its excellent reputation.

“Waikato Hospital is considered one of the top teaching hospitals in Australasia. It’s where I did most of my placements while training (to be a nurse),” says Gemma, who has been working in ED since February.

She also spent six months in the hospital’s well-regarded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Before that she was in the New Zealand Army, driving trucks. “I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie,” admits Gemma, who was stationed in Egypt with the Army for seven months.

Victoria, who recently graduated with a Bachelor of Radiation Therapy degree from Otago University, has been working at the hospital since January.

“It’s good working at Waikato Hospital,” says Victoria, who treats cancer patients using radiation therapy. “It’s a challenging job, and no two days are the same.”

She says her parents Len and Diana have been role models. “Mum and Dad have worked at Waikato Hospital for as long as I can remember, and because of them I’ve always wanted to do something in healthcare.”

Between them, Len and Diana have clocked up more than 70 years at Waikato Hospital.

Jokes Len: “Diana and I are practically part of the furniture now.”

Sharing their passion for health with their children has been important for the couple. Their eldest son Nick, 29, also works in the medical profession – as a dentist in Dunedin.

“I think health and the human body is so interesting,” says Diana. “My kids grew up knowing how the human body works and are good at maths and sciences.

She saw their interest develop from a young age. “Tori, as a little one, wanted to be a pathologist,” says Diana. “And I always knew Gemma would end up in the medical field. I used to tell her as a child she’d make a great nurse. She’s got a caring attitude and ability to tune into people.”

Diana says despite almost four decades at Waikato Hospital she still enjoys coming to work. “I love it. I love it today as much as I did when I first started working here,” says Diana. “I’m really proud of Waikato Hospital – there are some amazing people working here.”

She says research being done by hospital staff is “cutting-edge” and many departments, such as cardiology, are “world class”.

Waikato Hospital is a place where people matter, and teamwork counts, says Diana. “It’s the people who work here – the team I work with in ED, and their commitment – that impresses me,” says Diana. “It’s a very supportive workplace.”

Gemma agrees. As a junior nurse she feels nurtured and encouraged to ask questions of senior staff.

Over the past four decades Len says Waikato Hospital, like many institutions, has become less hierarchical.

Waikato Hospital is a place where every member of staff is valued – from the hospital cleaners to senior consultants and doctors.

With his years of experience at the hospital, Len says there have been some interesting moments, including the time he helped apprehend a bank robber in the hospital corridor. A colleague tackled the would-be robber, Len pushed a wheel chair at him and a kitchen staffer pushed a meal trolley at the fleeing man, who was armed with a knife. “A few of us sat on him,” laughs Len. “There was about $10,000 in bank notes all across the floor.”

On a more serious note, Len has had to deal with some serious emergencies as a duty manager – including electrical outages and water leaks, which impacted critical care units. “In a crisis it’s important to stay calm and make good decisions,” says Len.

He notes that technology and communications have improved greatly over the years, which has helped with everything from bed planning to crisis managemen

Diana has many good memories of the past few decades at Waikato Hospital, and fondly remembers the hospital’s pet cat Smokey, who retired in 2010.

The much-loved grey cat was fond of wandering between hospital wards, and a comforting presence for many patients

As an ED nurse, Diana has seen her fair share of traumatic injuries and accidents. Waikato is surrounded by major roads, and all major traffic accidents for the region come to ED. Staff have to be ready to treat everyone from victims of abuse to those who have been badly injured in road, factory and farming accidents. “You have to have coping mechanisms,” says Diana. “I believe we do a fantastic job in ED.”

However, working as an ED nurse hasn’t made her family immune to accident and injury. One time she was working in ED when son Nick arrived with fractured bones from playing high school rugby. “I would often come home and tell the kids about a child who had been injured, and tell them to be careful.”

What’s it like working with your mother? At times Diana and Gemma are rostered on shift at the same time in ED. Gemma says working alongside her mum – who is sometimes her boss – has never been an issue. “We are all just too busy and just get on with it,” says Gemma. “I would say half the staff there wouldn’t even know she is my mum.”

Although they all work at Waikato Hospital, the Knights seldom have time to catch up for coffee or lunch. “We are too busy and all work different shifts,” says Gemma, who works some night shifts.

Victoria says she rarely bumps into her mother or sister in the hallways, as they work at opposite ends of the hospital. However, sometimes she pays her father a visit. “Sometimes I go and see Dad and get lunch money,” laughs Victoria.

Len enjoys the fact his wife and daughters work at Waikato Hospital, and says over the years he has known many colleagues who work with family member. “There are lots of husbands and wives, and mothers and daughters who work at the hospital. It adds to this ‘village on the hill’ feel.”

ENDS