Family-feel of hospital makes Rylee feel at home

Associate Nurse Unit Manager Rylee Johnson made the move to Australia from North Carolina, USA in early 2020 and immediately felt welcome at St John of God Geelong Hospital.

2 Nov 2022

Three years on, that feeling hasn’t changed.

How long have you worked with us?

I’ve been here for about three years.

Why did you join us?

Before moving here to be with my partner, who’s Australian and I’m from the United States, I applied to numerous hospitals for intensive care positions.

At the time, there weren’t a lot of openings. Family friends knew of Matt Young, who was the Acting Nurse Unit Manager for the Intensive Care Unit at St John of God Geelong Hospital – I got into contact with him, came in for an interview and he just made me feel extremely welcome. The interview went fantastic and he was willing to support me and my goals to be here in Geelong.

What do you love about working with us?

Coming from a big hospital system in the United States, it was really beautiful to be here in this Intensive Care Unit where it just felt like a family unit, especially at the time of COVID.

Everybody was supportive, everybody wanted to step up. They helped me move this way, made me feel welcome and just took me under their wing. It just made it a lot easier transitioning with the support of the family unit here.

What do you like about living in Geelong?

Geelong is beautiful. You have this unique café culture of Geelong with Pakington Street, you can just walk and there’s probably 30 different cafes.

There’s tonnes of outdoor activities, parks, you have the bay and Eastern Beach, we’re also about 15 to 20 minutes from the beautiful Torquay Beach and a quick train ride right into the city for more of your city life… it just has every little thing you could possibly want.

Why should other people consider working with us?

St John of God Health Care just makes you feel so welcome.

It’s just the little things. The hellos, everybody knows each other, that real community feel. You know the nurses on the other units, you know the reception staff, you know the manager, everybody knows you by name. It’s just a big team and everyone is just so well connected. It makes the whole transition, and the family and the care you provide, just that much more top-notch.