CYNTHIA Seamark is Mōkau’s new community nurse. PHOTO SUPPLIED
AS a girl Cynthia Seamark knew two things about her future: she would become a nurse and she would move to Mōkau. Cynthia was entranced by the area’s natural beauty as she and her parents travelled to see family in the Waikato. Watching the mountain appear over the sea as they drove south was her highlight. “When you could see the mountain you were home. It was always magical looking down the coast and the beach, and there was the mountain.” The vistas had a powerful emotional impact. “We lived in South Taranaki. For my whole life even as a small child, nine or 10, every time we went through Tongapurutu, and up through that area it was like, I’ll live here one day.” Now she has realised both dreams – as the Mōkau district’s new community nurse. “I still pinch myself that I live here, and I’ve got a job here.” LONG PROCESS It has been a long process. Ten or 12 years ago, Cynthia and her husband bought a block of land; five years ago, they built a house on it. Beforehand, she took up nursing roles all around the North Island, in Hamilton and the Bay of Plenty among other places. She especially enjoyed working as a nurse specialist with children with diabetes, travelling across the Waikato region. That was where her interest in community nursing started. EQUAL RELATIONSHIP She liked the more equal relationship between nurse and patient. “When you see people in their homes or their schools or their workplaces, you see them on their turf. It’s in their space. You’re a guest in their space really.” It meant she really got to know people. “You tend to have longer term relationships,” she said. Cynthia most recently worked as a manager in the Outpatients and Oncology departments at base hospital in New Plymouth. She travelled from the Mōkau area once she had already moved there. Before that, she worked for Hospice in Taranaki for eight years. Now she was back in the community. “I’m excited to be back to a hands-on nursing role,” she said. “I love the rural community and the connectedness this brings.” DREAM Nursing has always been her dream. “I think it’s just the relational stuff. I’ve always been a people person, and wanted to work with people. I’m number four in a large family of nine; always had lots of people around.” “I always knew I wanted to be a nurse,” she said. However she didn’t go straight into the field; instead she trained as a mature student. “I started nursing about twenty years ago. [First] I had my family and raised my babies; my youngest was seven when I did my training. Then I got to have a job I loved.” Cynthia does walk-in clinics in the St John rooms in Mōkau on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday from 9-11am with no appointment needed. She can also do blood tests by appointment, saving people in the community a trip to town. “Having the opportunity to work for my own local community is pretty amazing,” Cynthia said.
