Larger than life Clinical Nurse Consultant, Matthew McDonnell, has taken out the coveted PA Hospital Nurse of the Year Award for 2023. 

The long-standing member of the PAH community has been recognised for his passion and devotion to the profession he decided on at the tender age of six. 

“I had Leukemia as a child and my goal was, first and foremost, to give back to nursing what was given to me.

“During my treatment I had some really good nursing care that I wanted to replicate, I also had some marginal nursing care that drives me to the future state of what I want nursing to look like,” he said. 

For Matthew, it’s the patients that get him out of bed every morning. 

“Everything I do, every decision I make and the direction I take the Vascular Access Service, is all patient focussed. 

“We are a small team, but we are flexible and adapt to the needs of our patients.”

When days are challenging, he reflects on what six-year-old Matthew needed as a patient. 

“For me, it really is about every single patient and their journey. 

“Nursing shouldn’t be about the system, it shouldn’t be about the finances or budget constraints, it should be about what’s best for the patient who’s in the bed today and their immediate family, whether that is their biological or chosen family.”

Taking out Nurse of the Year isn’t something Matthew takes lightly. 

“This recognition means so much. 

“I’ve been working in this hospital on and off for 20 years; I started as a phlebotomist then an AIN then in intensive care and vascular. 

“It’s nice to be recognised and it’s nice to know, even though sometimes I don’t see the good things that I bring to the hospital every day, that other people obviously see that, so I’m really stoked!”

Congratulations Matty!