Trish Moroney knew she wanted to be a nurse at the age of 15.

Fast forward 40 years and Trish is still putting on her scrubs each day and still getting a thrill out of problem-solving.

Despite leaving and coming back to Mater over the years, as well as working in England for a time, Trish has so far racked up 28 years as a nurse at Mater in Brisbane.

"I just knew I wanted to be a nurse growing up, it was a logical and rational decision," she said.

"I started my nursing training even before I left school – I knew that it would give me lots of different avenues and diversity."

And that it has! Trish has been a midwife, worked in emergency, nursed on the wards and in recovery and more recently in the operating theatres at Mater Private Hospital Brisbane.

"It's the people that I love in theatre," she said.

"I love the banter we have with the surgeons and the patients. You know you're making a difference for a patient when you're there for them when they're crying and you hold their hand.

"It's the little moments like those."

Trish's advice to aspiring nurses is simple.

"Have an open mind – be open to lots of different walks of life and all the challenges they present."