Annie Downie

Cardiology Clinical Nurse Consultant

Sutherland Hospital 

“I thought nursing was good because it can take you anywhere in the world.  I trained in Scotland and moved to New Zealand before coming to Sydney.  I spent 15 years in New Zealand and I was for a brief amount of time a medical advisor on the soap opera Shortland Street. I enjoyed it. I was making sure all the scripts were medically accurate and that the actors actually said the correct medical dialogue. Pronunciation was quite difficult because of my Scottish accent, and sometimes I had to let Google actually say the words, because the actors would go on screen and talk with a Scottish accent, which was a bit crazy. 

I really enjoyed Emergency Department nursing, but I found myself being fascinated by my patients ECG’s (Electro Cardiogram). Each patient’s heart tracing is different. So I gave cardiology a try and I loved it straight away.  There’s just so much to learn. You can really make a difference and have such a positive impact on people’s lives as a nurse.”