Thirty years of paediatric care

ZILLAH Wama-Murray says she chose becoming a nurse so that she could take care of her two younger siblings.
Now 53, Wama-Murray had spent the past 30 years (since 1993) dedicated to providing paediatric health care services.
“I decided to do nursing at the end of Gr 9 when my parents separated,” she said.
“I thought I should spend less time at school and work so I can take care of my siblings.”
She was the first child of Francis Wama from East Sepik and East New Britain, and Alice Owen from Gulf and Milne Bay.
Wama-Murray was raised with her three younger siblings – a sister after her who passed away in 2014, and two boys.
She said the boys, Ronald and Christopher, were like her babies.
“Whenever they get hurt or are sick and were in the hospital, I will be there.
“I used to admire the nurses at the Boram (Wewak General Hospital) paediatric ward who looked after my little brother (Christopher) when he was sick and thought I should become one too,” Wama-Murray recalled.
One of her uncles also encouraged her to become a nurse.
Wama-Murray did grades one and two at the Wabag Primary School in 1980 and 1981 when her dad worked in Enga.
The family later returned to Maprik where she completed grades three to 10 between 1983 and 1989.
It was in Maprik that she met her husband, Paul Murray.
Wama-Murray was a family-oriented person, always taking care of her siblings, her cousins and her family as a whole, even after her parents separated.
She applied to the Lae School of Nursing in 1989 and was accepted to attend the following year.
“I took over caring for my siblings when they were sent to live with my uncle Morris and aunty Gwen Owen in Lae,” she said, ensuring the two boys completed their education.
Wama-Murray started work as a nurse at Lae’s Angau Memorial Hospital in August 1993 soon after graduating from the Lae School of Nursing.
Wama-Murray worked there for five years and left in December 1998, 10 months after she and her husband welcomed their first son.
“I started work at the Port Moresby General Hospital in 1999 and have been there ever since,” she said. Wama-Murray has extensive experience in intensive and paediatric care.
She said she loved being a nurse but there were always challenges, even today.
“Housing is never a part of the employment package and has always been an issue for nurses,” she said.
“Safety was never guaranteed and many nurses live in settlements; the pay is never enough to rent a house in the city or even the suburbs. Renting rooms in settlements is common among nurses.”
Wama-Murray had always been an advocate of education.
She would often tell those she took care of, even her children of which she has three, that education would get you places.
She herself continued to take any opportunity to further her education, attaining a Bachelor of Nursing in Paediatrics and Midwifery in 2004, and then a Bachelor in Nursing Management and Education in 2019, both from the University of Papua New Guinea.
“I am looking forward to doing my Masters in Nursing if and when there is an opportunity,” she said.
Wama-Murray was hopeful that one day, before retirement, she would be given the opportunity to train paediatric clinical nurses and leave an impact on paediatric nursing in the country. It is, therefore, not surprising when one hears this daughter of a mixed East Sepik, East New Britain, Gulf and Milne Bay parentage boasting about nurses being the agents of change.