Jerusalem Nurse In Move Back to Sweden.

Farewell to Siw Westman – Ophthalmic Sister and Orthoptist.

When Siw arrived at the hospital in 1990, she did not realize what an exciting career span lay ahead of her at the St John Eye Hospital. She trained as an Ophthtlamic nurse at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and had spent two years at the King Khaled Eye Hospital in Saudi Arabia by the time she arrived at St John.

She spent much of her time as a Theatre Sister and Ward Sister but had always maintained an interest in Orthoptics, so in 2004 she spent a year back at the Karorlinska Institute, completing her Othoptic training. Since then she has worked in the Orthoptic Department at SJEHG. Much of that time was spent with the Outreach team travelling the West Bank, and at the satellite centres in Hebron and Anabta.

She experienced first hand the problems of life in the West Bank, the poverty of families who could not afford treatment for their children, and the difficulties of daily life, particularly restriction of travel.

In recent times the Orthoptic Department has expanded to include 4 Orthoptic assistants, who were St John Ophthalmic nurses who were trained specifically in the hospital’s Orthoptic department and now perform a very valuable role in screening children in the hospital and at the satellite clinics.

Siw has one brother, with a nephew and niece who have visited her over the years and grown to love their trips to Jerusalem. She lived in a glorious location on top of a mountain in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem
but is now moving on to live in apartment overlooking the Danube in Vienna, Austria.

One of Siw’s greatest passions is diving and she spent many hours diving in various locations of the Red Sea.
Siw’s large range of ophthalmic skills will be greatly missed in the hospital.

For many years Siw was sponsored by the Kennedy Leigh Trust, to whom she is very grateful for their support.