JustPhysio are proud to be recognising our wonderful locum Vanessa, from Adelaide as our Locum of the Month this September.

Vanessa has proved herself to be hard working and dedicated to the Physiotherapy service, impressing both her clients and our JustPhysio recruitment consultant, Luke.

Although Vanessa is one of our newer locums to work with the JustPhysio team, she has proved to be very deserving of the title as Luke couldn’t praise her enough for her positive attitude and easy going personality which makes her a great locum to work with.

Get to know a little more about Vanessa…

Current Locum position? Band 6 Physiotherapist – Acute Medical Team

Personal achievements within the role? As I am new to the NHS and its services, the biggest achievement has been learning all the community services in the different catchment areas the hospital works with and facilitating successful discharges.

What do you enjoy about being a locum? I love the flexibility, I have worked in 3 different areas in 12 weeks. This has really kept my skills sharp and I have met some wonderful people. I also love that you don’t have to work weekends or bank holidays, so I can explore and be a tourist. It fits my lifestyle perfectly!

Most memorable moment within your career? One of my most memorable moments was the first big success I had as a new graduate physiotherapist. I worked closely with a lady who suffered a stroke because of the chemo she was undergoing for breast cancer and this was on a background of childhood polio. We worked together for many weeks and her function improved to the point that she was able to return home with her husband. We built a close bond and one particular problem we worked on was her inattention to her affected side, which prevented her from returning to a favourite past time – knitting. After a good amount of rehab, not only was she physically functioning well, but she returned to knitting and she gave me a beanie to wear in the winter, which I still have today and wear regularly.

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 items would you take?
1.) My Kindle
2.) A hammock
3.) Lifetime supply of vegemite