Sandra Armstrong

Trainee Health Worker's Story

My name is Sandra Armstrong.

I come from Erldunda Station. I grew up there. I went to school in Alice Springs, and then I came back to Erldunda and I worked there at the station for a while. Then my family moved to Wallace Rockhole. I got a job at Ntaria, (Hermannsburg), at the FRM Store. I was there for a few years and then I worked at Tjuwampa Resource Centre, in the office there for eight years. Then I moved to Alice Springs, and then I worked at Centrelink for four years. From there I got six months contract at the Alice Springs Hospital as liaison officer. I used to work the after hours shift in the emergency department. We used to get called upstairs too, to the wards and to the ICU. When that finished I came back to work here at Imanpa Clinic. I've been undertaking one years training as an Anangu Health Worker at Batchelor College. It's going really good. I will become registered and graduate some time in August.

I like my job, it's interesting being a clinic health worker. I get to meet lots of people.

I'm still a trainee at the moment, so I mainly assist the registered nurse. I take blood pressures and temperatures and I've been taking blood and giving flu needles. Other jobs include weighing and doing heights, weight and head circumferences for babies, doing urine analysis and observing and writing notes about patients. I apply dressings for wounds, boils burns, cuts and infections.