Local woman combines career with travel, has unforgettable memories

It's easy to see Yuman Patty Tellechea has a passion for travel.

From musical instruments to large photo albums - and an even bigger collection on her computer - she is surrounded by the memories of her travels.

Her most recent adventure took her to the other side of the globe, to Australia.

With her role as a nurse locally at Yuma Regional Medical Center, Tellechea helps others.

Combine her passion for caring with her love of travel, and the idea of becoming an international nurse was born.

“I've always been interested in Australia. And I've always been interested in histories, cultures and archaeology - and Australia is the most unique of them in my mind.”

For the past 35 years, Tellechea has been in the nursing profession. And with two grown daughters (32 and 37) - who are both also nurses - Tellechea and her husband, Jeff, set off in April 2009 and returned exactly one year later.

Tellechea noted one of the biggest differences from YRMC to the hospital she worked in Adelaide, a city on the coast in the state of South Australia.

She said here, the pharmacy mixes IVs and doses out medicine - and there are secure places on each floor where the medicine is kept.

There, she said, the nurses are responsible for mixing the medicine as well as dispensing it, leaving them in charge of everything from the math involving doses and even caring for a patient's respiratory care, which in the United States is a separate nurse.

There were long hours, but with work came play, too. The Tellecheas traveled all over Australia from the west to the east coast and also up north.

The middle of the country is completely flat, she said, and that makes it harder to find water. That's because there are no mountains to have ice/snow thaw, and no place to catch it. When it does rain, she said, it could rain 12 inches at a time, but there is nowhere for it to go.

For Australians, she said, that means watering your garden with a bucket - and you're definitely not allowed to wash your car in the driveway.

Through all her travels, Tellechea sent her parents letters documenting their trip.

“With each letter, I sent pictures of what I'd been doing. It makes a diary, then they save them and give them back to me.

“And this I will pass on to my children.”

Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.