New site manager and director of nursing and midwifery at Cooma, Donna Saddler, first joined NSW Health as a trainee enrolled nurse in 1998.

Since then, Donna has worked as a registered nurse and manager in aged care and for NSW Health as care navigator, nurse unit manager of Cooma Community Nursing and most recently as acting deputy director of nursing, midwifery and director of nursing, midwifery at Cooma Hospital.

Born and raised in Cooma, Donna’s first job in the health/nursing industry was as a personal care assistant at Yallambee Lodge when it first opened in 1995.

“I have always had a love of the elderly,” Donna said.

“My grandparents and great uncles were very involved in my life growing up and I loved spending time with them.

“So I was very excited to learn I could spend time with elderly residents and get paid for it.”

Working in that role inspired Donna to undertake enrolled nurse training. There were no family members in the industry to encourage Donna to choose this career path.

She initially worked in the fitness industry as a swimming instructor and coach, so it was a big change from where Donna thought she would end up career wise.

Donna began her enrolled nurse training at Bathurst Base Hospital in 1997.

“It was a time when you were employed by NSW Health for 12 months and did most of your training on the job. Theory sessions were in Dubbo so I had good exposure to rural health care.

“I continued to work in NSW Health and residential aged care in both Bathurst and Goulburn until returning to Cooma in 2002.”

Donna focused on her growing family and returned to work after the birth of her third son in 2003 at Cooma Hospital and Yallambee Lodge.

She completed her registered nursing degree via distance education in 2010 and was appointed as facility manager at Yallambee Lodge the stvame year.

“I loved my time there under the general manager of Cooma-Monaro Shire Council at the time, John Vucic, who was a huge supporter of providing high quality aged care in our region.

“I left Yallambee in 2018 after a major knee operation. There were a lot of changes in aged care legislation and restructures within council that did lead me to exploring other opportunities,” Donna said.

She found herself back at Cooma Hospital in 2019 in Community Health working as a care navigator and palliative care specialist nurse for a few years before becoming nurse unit manager of community nursing.

Since September 2024 Donna filled in as deputy director of nursing and then in June this year she moved to the position of site manager/director of nursing for Cooma and Jindabyne.

“This is a huge honour, and my goal is to ensure high quality hospital based and community care options are available across the Snowy Monaro region.

“This is where I live and where I come from, so I am invested in seeing services expand to meet the needs of our growing population.

“I still love the human side of nursing, being able to help people, often at the worst time of their lives,” Donna said.

“This role gives me the opportunity to be more involved in the planning and development of services that are needed in our community and building relationships with other health services and NGOs in our region.”

Donna is a strong advocate for a career in health and particularly nursing.

“I think nursing is a great job and I absolutely recommend it to school leavers and mature aged students looking for a change,” she said.

“I am very proud of the fact I had the opportunity to encourage and assist numerous staff during my time at Yallambee to go on and do their enrolled nursing or registered nursing degree. Some of them are working within Southern Local Health District and others in Sydney.”

Outside of work, Donna supports the sporting endeavours of her three now adult sons Zac, Will and Noah who are involved in local rugby league and AFL.

“Sport has been a big part of our lives,” Donna said.

“I swim most mornings in summer and also play some social tennis with friends. I played basketball most of my life but had to stop after my knee operation.”