Sep 30, 2025
The guest on this episode is Dr
Nhi Nguyen, who as a six-year-old escaped Vietnam by boat. Today,
she is an intensivist, a healthcare leader, and a voice for purpose
and compassion in medicine.
Dr Nhi Nguyen is the Clinical Director of Intensive Care NSW and
served as the state’s ICU Clinical Advisor during the COVID-19
response. She is closely involved in the Single Digital Patient
Record program and is the clinical lead for the Nepean Hospital
Redevelopment. Nhi serves on the Boards of the Nepean Blue
Mountains Local Health District and the College of Intensive Care
Medicine (CICM).
In this conversation, Nhi shares
her remarkable journey – from refugee beginnings to senior
leadership in Australian intensive care. She reflects on her
family’s escape, her early determination not to stand out, and the
irony that she now holds these major roles with NSW Health, the
CICM and a major hospital redevelopment.
Nhi speaks about the mentors
who opened doors, the pivotal choices that shaped her career, and
the clarity she has found in defining her purpose. She also recalls
her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she helped
coordinate intensive care responses across New South Wales under
extraordinary pressure.
What shines through is not
only Nhi’s capability, but her humanity — her focus on compassion,
cultural identity, and lifting up those whose potential might
otherwise go unseen.
Nhi’s is a story of courage,
resilience, and humility. And a reminder of what it truly means to
be an intensivist.
Thank you for listening.
Andrew Davies
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About the Mastering Intensive Care podcast: The podcast aims to
inspire and empower you, through conversations about the human side
of Intensive Care, to bring your best self to work, with a focus on
compassion, collaboration and personal wellbeing.
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Relevant links
Piece on Dr Nhi Nguyen about major
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