Flexibility and autonomy are highlights of Hepatitis Foundation of NZ nurse Emily Huang’s role, along with helping patients live healthier lives.
Emily works with the foundation’s other Auckland-based nurses to cover the city and wider area. She started in May 2022 and says she’s enjoying the role so far. “This job draws on my previous experience working in a GP practice. There’s a lot of virtual and phone interaction with patients in this job, which is related to my previous role in telehealth. Viral hepatitis B is new to me but the work itself is familiar.”
Her main challenge is prioritising the workload – she says good management and organisational skills are vital - and reaching people with hepatitis B. “Many patients under this service can be hard to reach and are very challenging to get them engaged. Sometimes it is like being a detective, getting pieces of information from different places and putting the puzzle pieces together to get a better picture.
“I find social and cultural background and upbringing are the most challenging aspects in this job for our hard-to-reach patients.
Emily speaks Mandarin and can understand spoken Cantonese, which helps her engage with a lot of patients. She was born in Shenzhen, China, and came to NZ in 2007, when she was 15. She completed high school in Auckland, where she lived with relatives in the eastern suburbs. She completed her Bachelor of Nursing in 2012 and has since worked mostly in GP & Urgent care. She also spent two years working for Healthline as a tele triage nurse.
Emily has two daughters, aged five and three, and enjoys spending time with them when she’s not working. “I love riding bike, gardening, and cooking. I am currently learning to play piano with my five-year-old. I am a church-goer and also teach Sunday school.”
To talk to Emily or any of the foundation’s other nurses, please contact us.
