PASSION and love are the secrets to a happy working life. That's the advice of trailblazing 91-year-old former nurse Gay Galvin.
As the world marked International Women's Day, Gay was one of many leading ladies at Mercy Place Mont Clare aged care home in Claremont, WA, dishing out career advice to today's young women.
"I would say to any girls contemplating their future to try to figure out what they most love and are passionate about," said Gay, who initially joined the Air Force as an 18-year-old.
She was on duty the night of the bombing of Darwin, where she happened to be plotting the Japanese place responsible for the atrocity when it struck the city.
But it was Gay's passion for children which saw her embark on a career that she said she has loved since day one.
"Children were my love and I was passionate about their welfare, and on top of that I had an innate desire to work with them," she said.
"As it happened, my career choice turned out to be exactly the journey I'd hoped for and nursing has been a privilege throughout my life."
During a career that has spanned many decades, Gay has nursed at Princess Margaret Hospital and Royal Perth Hospital, as well as having stints working in Kalgoorlie and at PMH's Lady Gowrie Child Centre and then Lady Lawley Cottage by the Sea.
Mercy Place Mont Clare service manager Janelle McFarlane said International Women's Day provided an important opportunity to celebrate the achievement of female residents at the aged care home.
"We have many residents who really did blaze a trail for women in their younger years, many of whom are nurses and who carved out careers at a time when it wasn't always acceptable for women to focus on their work," Ms McFarlane said.
"As a fellow nurse, I wholeheartedly agree with Gay's sentiments about finding a career that you love; if you do the work is never a chore or something you do out of duty."
