By Bridget Cook
IT WAS a special celebration for a double milestone occasion when Dandenong Hospital nurse Ksenia Bettany celebrated her 70th birthday this week.
While the division One nurse celebrated her birthday with staff and friends at Dandenong Hospital on Monday, the year also marks Ms Bettany’s 50th year as a nurse.
Ms Bettany works in the rehabilitation ward at Dandenong Hospital and spends her night shifts helping others get back on their feet.
More than 30 people attended the afternoon tea celebration which was organised by nurse unit manager Sara Alger.
“The event was to celebrate the fact she is still working at 70, which is quite a milestone in nursing,” she said.
Ms Alger said Ms Bettany was a wonderful worker.
“She’s reliable, punctual and very professional,” she said.
“She’s a great rehabilitation nurse and is extremely sympathetic.”
Ms Alger said she had many women in the ward want to know her secret to keeping so fit and healthy.
“I hope I look as good as her when I’m 70,” she said.
“We want to know the secret to her lovely complexion,” she joked. “We are willing to pay.”
Coming from Hampton Rehabilitation more than 12 years ago, Ms Bettany originally started her nurse training at Prince Henry’s Hospital in the 1960s.
In the 1970s, she travelled overseas and nursed in Lebanon and England.
In between her travels she married and had two children, a son and daughter, but sadly was widowed early in her marriage and was forced to raise her children alone.
Returning to Australia in the 1980s, Ms Bettany helped set up The Russian Nursing Home in Dandenong and took on the job of Director of Nursing.
In 1993, she was worried that she might not be employable at the age of 52 but Hampton Rehabilitation, now located at the Kingston Centre, took her on.
She became one of two remaining staff that helped set up the 11 bed rehabilitation ward in Dandenong Hospital, known today as Dandenong Acute Rehabilitation Program (DARP).
Last year, she not only had a hip replacement but also received the Southern Health 15 year Service Badge.
Ms Alger said Ms Bettany hadn’t dropped any hints yet of retiring.
“She has not mentioned retiring yet, only an overseas trip to visit her family,” she said.
