The saying “choose a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life” rings true for cleaner Shirley McQueen, who is celebrating 50 years working at Tauranga Hospital today.
“I love what I do, and it doesn’t seem like 50 years – it feels just like yesterday that I started,” the 83-year-old said.
McQueen said when she started working at the hospital in 1975, “things were a bit different to the way we do things now”.
“We would not only do the cleaning, but we’d also be serving cups of tea and dinners and doing the dishes.
“Now we just focus on the cleaning side of things and have a lot more technology to help us, rather than just a mop and bucket.”
McQueen was taught to cook and clean by her father at the age of 10 after her mother died.
“I had to learn a lot of new things and a man’s teaching of these tasks can be quite different from a woman’s, so I learnt a lot more when I started at the hospital.”
She said she was still learning things in her job, such as how to clean different areas of the hospital and use new equipment.
McQueen said she had stayed in the role so long because she loved the company of her colleagues and patients and enjoyed keeping active.
“I don’t want to be at home in a rocking chair and, as you can imagine, I get a lot of encouragement from my doctor to keep going.”
NZ Herald
