Celebrating our nurses: Tamara Kos

International Year of the Nurse & Midwife celebrates the invaluable contribution that nurses and midwifes make to global healthcare. At CAHS, we're profiling the diversity of roles and people that make up our nursing services.

 

Meet Tamara Kos. Tamara is a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and one of our Emergency Telehealth Service (ETS) team members.

Tell us about your background and how you came to nursing.

Don’t laugh but I got into nursing because of the TV show MASH. I used to watch it after school and loved the idea of working with staff who really cared about helping people and having a laugh along the way too.
I graduated in 2004 from Curtin University and completed my graduate nursing program at Fremantle Hospital. I have worked in adult general medical, surgical, psychiatry, nursing education and in school health. 

Why were you drawn to CAMHS?

I guess it was the recent experience of working in school health and psychiatry. Having a teenage son when I first joined CAMHS  just made sense for me to work in this setting. I also liked the trauma informed approach which really appealed to me and working in CAMHS.

Tell us about the ETS service and what this means for clients and their families?

The ETS service provides advice, support and guidance to clients and their families via the phone or with telehealth which may result in a comprehensive mental health and risk assessment.
The service is available 7 days a week from 8am to 2.30am and the child may then be referred to a community mental health service, directly admitted to the ward at PCH, asked to present to an ED or directed away from an ED.
This is a meaningful service for clients and families as they are provided with immediate support and information in a crisis that best suits their needs and situation when they are unsure about what to do and are seeking help.

Which one of your personality traits has been the most useful in your work?

I guess it would be my openness, my ability to connect with people and see the positive in any situation.

What do you want to achieve in the next year?

I want to develop as a clinician and learn as much as I can in this new role.

What do you work towards in your spare time?

Planning my next holiday, try and finish those never-ending jobs around the house, spending quality time with family and friends, learning something new about life on planet earth.

What is something that most people learn only after it’s too late?

A lifetime isn’t very long so make the most of it.

If you had a theme song, what would it be?