From burnout to breakthrough: Why this Pacific nurse finds work-life balance in Aus

Influenced by her family’s legacy in healthcare, Sarah Elisaia transitions to working as a surgical nurse in Brisbane, Australia, in July 2023, where she finds a better work-life balance and improved conditions, such as favourable nurse-to-patient ratios.

"Primary school was probably the earliest I can remember deciding that I wanted to become a nurse," Elisaia says.

Speaking to PMN News from Brisbane, Elisaia says her family legacy in healthcare goes back two generations.

“My Mum’s a nurse, and my Nana was a nurse. I’ve got an aunty that’s also a nurse, and my Papa was also a psychiatrist, so it was definitely well embedded in our family to do something in the health industry.”

Elisaia trained at Unitec in West Auckland for four years before starting her career at North Shore Hospital in early 2020, during a pivotal time.

“We went into lockdown from Covid when I’d just started on the floor by myself, so it was a very hard way to come into the profession but also the only thing I knew.”

While Elisaia wanted to gain experience in New Zealand, the following three years emphasised the increasing strain on the sector.

“A lot of the shifts we would come onto, we were either short-staffed or we didn't have the right skill mix or not enough seniors to juniors on the ward.

“A lot of the patients didn't get any healthier so the patients that were on the ward were what we say, heavy acuity, so a lot more to look after.”

Sarah Elisaia now works as a nurse in Brisbane. Photo/Supplied

Making the leap

After less than three years, Elisaia felt that her dream had turned into burnout, prompting her to consider a change. Inspired by her mother’s agency work in Australia, Elisaia followed suit and quickly noticed a major difference in pay.

“If I worked maybe three shifts, four shifts a week here, I was almost making as much as I was making back home in a fortnight, so it was very sudden, very apparent, very fast.”

In July 2023, Elisaia moved to Australia and now works as a surgical nurse in Brisbane, caring for patients with bowel, pancreas, and stomach issues.

She finds the work-life balance “quite easy” compared to the guilt and exhaustion she often felt after shifts in Aotearoa.

Sarah Elisaia supports the nationwide nurses' strikes while visiting New Zealand. Photo/Supplied

“Nurses aren’t jaded. The work conditions, the pay, and the nurse-to-patient ratio are a lot better.

“Rather than back home where the ratio is one nurse to four or five patients, in Australia, a lot of the times, you'll find that you have two nurses between eight patients.”

A longing for home

Elisaia has family ties to Butaritari in Kiribati, Funafuti in Tuvalu, and Fagasā in American Sāmoa, with an aunt working as a nurse in Pago Pago.

Elisaia joined the nurses’ strike at Auckland City Hospital during a visit to New Zealand last year. Her view of the Government from across the ditch is simple: “It’s shocking, unfortunately.

Photo/File

“The cost of living, access to healthcare, I know a lot of those things are really heightened at the moment, and people aren't able to even book an appointment for the GP because things are getting more expensive.”

Elisaia says Pacific communities face additional barriers to healthcare access and is concerned about the future state of the sector in Aotearoa.

“The privatisation of health care seems to be creeping its way into discussions and policy. I think there are small glimpses of what might come to be for New Zealand, but I'm just hoping that it doesn't come to fruition.

“The political climate is not exactly the most encouraging at the moment, but I would love to come back.”

Watch the full interview by Lena Emani-Manoa, a Sāmoan clinical nurse specialist for Pacific Health at Auckland Hospital, below.