For Perioperative Services Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) Annette Bird, care is not confined to a workplace, a species, or a set of hours.
Whether she is overseeing governance for one of Queensland’s busiest operating theatre services at Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH), or rescuing an injured turtle from the roadside, her approach is the same: act decisively, follow best practice, and put wellbeing first.
Annette, who originally trained as a veterinary nurse in the early 1980s before making the switch to human patients, is celebrating 35 years with Gold Coast Health.
Her early work in the Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU) and pain management formed the foundation of a career driven by clinical excellence.
Today, her role sits firmly in the governance space where she is responsible for reviewing and maintaining theatre documentation, conducting compliance audits, and delivering performance reports across perioperative services.
“It’s very different from direct patient care, but you need a deep clinical understanding to govern clinical practice properly, so my nursing background is important,” Annette said.
While Annette is kept busy enough with her full-time role at Gold Coast Health, it’s her passion for voluntary wildlife work that takes up the bulk of her time.
“I’m essentially on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide emergency care and stabilisation,” Annette said.
“Working in theatres gives me high-level trauma skills that translate directly to veterinary and wildlife care.
“The skillsets overlap more than people realise.”
From the Scenic Rim to the News South Wales border, Annette is equipped to deal with specialist and dangerous species requiring emergency attention.
She also facilitates community workshops and events, encouraging people to interact with wildlife and equipping them with the tools to contact emergency care if required.
Her home reflects the scale of the work.
“My house is set up like a combination of hospital and zoo, with indoor intensive care unit (ICU) care and 14 acres of outdoor enclosures,” she said.
Animals move from intensive care to intermediate housing, then pre-release environments so they can regain natural behaviours.
“Some rehabilitations can take up to 18 months,” she said.
One such case was recently featured as part of 7NEWS’ ‘Sunny Side’ segment for a turtle rescue which resulted in not only saving the mother’s life, but her hatchlings too.
“The mother was hit by a car while likely searching for a nesting site as she was gravid with 22 eggs” Annette said.
“She needed tube feeding, injectable medications, intensive wound and shell care, and manual hydration several times a day.
“After weeks of careful management, she successfully laid all 22 eggs, recovered fully and was released back to where she was found.”
Back at GCUH, colleagues know Annette as a calm, capable presence who is just as comfortable managing complex governance frameworks as she is handling a venomous snake.
It’s a combination of skill, experience, and compassion that earned her Logan City Citizen of the Year in 2020 for service to the community.
Because for Annette, caring isn’t a job description, it’s a constant - whether the patient walks on two legs or four, crawls, flies, or swims.
