Obstetrician retires
after 34 years
Obstetrician Dr Richard Speed says his career
has been characterised by good humour on
both sides of the patient-doctor relationship,
something he puts down to a visiting American
physician.
“Patch Adams (famously played by Robin Williams in the 1998 film
of the same name) did a series of clinics and talks at Baycourt many
years ago and it made a big impression on me. He would do rounds
dressed as a clown. I didn’t go that far of course but it did give me
the encouragement to introduce a bit of humour into my work.
“Used in the right situation it can be very effective and it works both
ways, that interaction helps keep your own spirits high as well.”
And there have been many humorous moments in over three
decades at Tauranga Hospital, including the time when the cord
around his scrubs was not tied tightly enough.
“My trousers fell down in the operating theatre. It’s happened a
couple of times actually. A nurse took a photograph once, so I’m
waiting for that to appear somewhere, I’m dreading when.”
Another memorable occasion was delivering a baby when the after-
shocks of the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake were still being felt.
“A big after-shock started soon after they had given the patient a
spinal anaesthetic for a C-section. The operating theatre was on
the 4th Floor at Tauranga Hospital and the bed was moving up
and down by about six inches, so it was all a bit hairy. I asked the
woman if she wanted to go ahead and she told me: ‘Yes, go ahead,
I’m from Edgecumbe and this is nothing compared to what we’ve
had over there’.
“I’ve really enjoyed my job and my patients. I’ve done Māori clinics
for the last 30 odd years which I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve always had
a good relationship with the midwives and a lot of them, who were
young women when I started, are still here today.
Stepping away from the world of medicine, Richard says he is
looking forward to travelling, getting more heavily involved with both
the Rotary Club and Forest and Bird; and devoting more time to
tennis.
Celebrating success
By Paula Abbey, Team Leader Acute Care Pathway,
Mental Health and Addition.
Congratulations to Mandy Allman, Registered
Nurse, Community Mental Health, Tauranga.
Mandy has written a chapter on Assessment
in Mental Health Nursing in the latest edition
of the Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
2017 publication.
Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing has estab lished itself as
Australia and New Zealand’s foremost mental health nursing
publication and is regarded as an essential resource for all
undergraduate nursing students. We are so proud of Mandy, it’s a
huge achievement, well done.
Mandy Allman with a copy of the latest edition of the Psychiatric and Mental
Health Nursing 2017 publication.
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