Johanna started at Asthma WA in early February, joining the Respiratory Health Team as Respiratory Health Nurse. She will play an important role in providing individualised services to our asthma and COPD clients as well as community education.
With more than 25 years of nursing experience, prior to joining us Johanna was working as a clinical nurse within the women’s prison system, where she also acted as the Chronic Disease Service Coordinator covering all WA State prisons. It was during her time at the Department of Justice that Johanna first connected with Asthma WA, and she is excited to continue improving health outcomes in the community and increase awareness of respiratory health.
Working part-time allows Johanna the time to continue with her postgraduate studies in psychology and counselling and to support her young son to pursue swimming, with training 6 days a week as well as many weekend competitive meets. The whole family loves sports and outdoor activities and it was this love for adventure that saw them spend a year in Zambia. With their trusty Australian Landcruiser Prado ‘Betty’ shipped over for the entirety, they spent their down-time exploring Africa. Sighting of elephants, giraffes, and lions may have been regular occurrences, but they remained in awe of these amazing creatures (and took a lot of photos!).
Being born in Ireland, Johanna has had the opportunity to explore much of Europe as well. With international borders reopening, she is hoping to travel back to her hometown near Dublin and reunite with family after a three year absence. Next on her list is returning to explore one of her favourite destinations, Italy (where she got married), and then hopefully on to Japan.
Johanna has already shown us she is a great storyteller with so many wonderful experiences to share. Welcome to the team Johanna – we look forward to hearing about more of your adventures and hope you can check more items off your bucket list soon.
Johanna’s top three destinations to visit in Africa
- Chobe National Park, Botswana
- Anywhere in Namibia, but especially Etosha National Park
- Victoria Falls
