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Guest Character Profiles > Jodie Smith Mary Annegeline

Jodie Smith 2008-2011
Siblings: Braydon
Occupation: Nurse at Erinsborough & District Hospital

More than a year after giving up his medical career, Karl Kennedy returned to his vocation, as a registrar at Erinsborough Hospital. He quickly found himself being given a list of files and patients by busy nurse Jodie Smith, who welcomed him to the department before sending him on his way. As Karl did his best to get to know his patients and chat to them, Nurse Smith warned him that head of department Dr Peggy Newton was on the warpath, wanting more patients to be treated, and faster. Karl, however, was more concerned about his friend Carmella Cammeniti, who had just given birth and was struggling to deal with her premature baby, Chloe being in an incubator. Karl went to see her and made her see that it wasn't her fault and, having calmed her down, Nurse Smith then arrived to break the news that Chloe was breathing on her own and Carmella could go and hold her for the first time. And despite an initially strained start to their working relationship, Karl and Jodie were soon working well together, treating Richard Aaronow, who was in the final stages of renal failure, and tracking down his family, despite his insistance that he wanted to die alone.

A few months later, Ringo Brown, who had just relapsed after recovering from an eating disorder, went out swimming in the ocean and ended up passing out and getting washed up on the shore, unconscious. He was found by his friend Bridget Parker and, at the hospital, his concerned family waited for news from the team, including Nurse Smith, who eventually reported back that Ringo was going to be fine. Only weeks later, Chris Knight was brought into the hospital, critically ill after being bashed. Bridget was suspected of the attack, after running from Chris when he tried to force her into sex with him, but her dad Steve rashly confessed to the crime in order to protect his daughter, who later admitted that she had lashed out and kicked Chris, before he fell and hit his head. Struggling to deal with what she'd done, Bridget went to the hospital, lying to Nurse Smith that she was Chris' cousin. Her cover was blown when neighbour Karl spotted her, and he called in Steve to quietly take her home but when he arrived, Chris had regained consciousness and grabbed Bridget's arm. Steve took the opportunity to threaten Chris into keeping quiet about who really attacked him, but only hours later, after being rushed to surgery by Karl and Jodie, Chris died from his internal injuries.

The following month, Kirsten Gannon was hospitalised after being trapped outside in a bushfire and suffering extensive injuries. As Paul Robinson admitted that he had seen her out there, but left her, believing she was dead, she forgave him, but their conversation was interrupted by Nurse Smith, who had come to change Kirsten's bandages. Days later, Jay Duncan, the man responsible for the bushfire, stabbed his girlfriend Steph Scully. As she recovered in hospital, Jay was put in remand, where he was attacked. As Jay was rushed in, Jodie explained to colleague Nicola West what had happened, and they were soon facing questions from Kirsten's partner Ned and Paul Robinson from the Erinsborough News. But everyone fell silent when Carmella, whose husband Marco had died in the fire, arrived to confront Jay, unwilling to go until she'd come face to face with her husband's killer. Meanwhile, Jodie was pleased to hear that Kirsten was being transferred to the Royal Perth Hospital, where the burns team would be able to give her the best treatment in the country. Kirsten and Ned insisted that they weren't going and couldn't afford it, but Jodie later brought the transfer forms to sign, explaining that everything had been arranged and paid for by Paul.

Meanwhile, Jodie was having problems getting along with new nurse, Nicola West, who happened to be Bridget's aunt. Nicola was already the subject of hospital gossip, when an angry Bridget confronted her in the hospital corridor, letting everyone know that Nicola had slept with her adoptive nephew Riley and was in love with her brother-in-law, Steve. Jodie was amused, asking Nicola who she was going to hit on next, and later ostracised Nicola, refusing to share the staff's donuts with her and staring at her, before asking whether she planned to move on to Steve's brother Ned next. Nicola quickly replied that, perhaps if Jodie had a boyfriend, she could have been worried too. The feud continued with Jodie constantly piling work on Nicola and making her uncomfortable. When Dr Kennedy saw Nicola eating at her desk, he ticked her off, only for her to admit that she had hardly any spare time to get all the work done, and she had to keep her food with her, as it was being stolen from the fridge in the staff room. When Jodie then walked by and told Nicola off for flirting with the doctors instead of working, Karl overheard and promptly gave Jodie a warning about changing the rotas and giving all her paperwork to Nicola to do.

As Karl continued to help Nicola, Jodie continued to make little digs about their relationship. When Nicola was treating criminal Pete Ferguson and found herself with a needlestick injury, Karl was the only person she confided in, fearful that she may have contracted HIV from him. Karl's wife, Susan became concerned with the amount of secretive meetings between Nicola and Karl and, when she arrived at the hospital one day looking for him, a barbed comment from Jodie caused her to worry, and things only got worse when she then spotted Karl and Nicola sharing a hug in his office. Meanwhile, Pete decided to sue the hospital, after Nicola took bloods from him without his consent, a situation which left Karl suspended from work. When a vengeful Pete took Susan and her fellow journalist Elle hostage until they agreed to print his story on the front of the newspaper, Karl went to the hospital and begged Jodie to look up Pete's address. Jodie was just on the verge of agreeing when she realised that Elle's father, Paul, and Rebecca Napier had broken into the records room, so she contacted the police.

Later that week, Jodie attended a footie game - Erinsborough's Eastside Dingoes playing Jodie's team, the Anson's Corner Bull Ants. The banter between Jodie and Rebecca soon got out of hand, particularly when Rebecca started insulting one of the players, who turned out to be Jodie's younger brother, Braydon, and Jodie's taunts towards Erinsborough got worse when she noticed Nicola amongst the Dingoes' supporters. As the game continued, the argument between the two women got serious enough that Sergeant Matt Freedman had to step in and separate them. A couple of weeks later, Jodie, rather ironically after all the feuding, ended up looking after Nicola when she was found unconscious after a hit and run accident and spent several days in a coma, which left her with amnesia. The situation grew more complicated as Nicola was realised from hospital, and it became clear that she'd been faking her amnesia. Her mental state continued to deteriorate and, desperate to get rid of Steve, she put crushed-up pills in his food, leaving him seriously ill and rushed to hospital, where Dr Karl and Nurse Jodie treated him. Things were looking up for Steve when Miranda found the tablets Nicola had used to poison him and it looked like he would recover, but when Nicola then turned up at the hospital and got into his room, he mysteriously had a cardiac arrest, and Nurse Jodie and Dr Newton had to battle to save his life. A couple of weeks later, Nurse Jodie looked after Elle when she was involved in a car accident, narrowly avoiding serious injury when the car exploded just after she escaped it. Though slightly shocked and bruised, Elle was otherwise fine and discharged after a few hours.

When Bridget found herself pregnant, then learnt that her boyfriend Declan, stunned by the news, has lashed out and cheated on her, she refused to speak to him and he angrily drove off out of Ramsay Street, just as the stress caused Bridget to double up in pain. At the hospital, Bridget was examined while her concerned parents, Steve and Miranda, hassled Jodie for information. Though she was found to be fine, her parents, particularly her dad, struggled to cope with the news that their little girl was expecting a baby.

As 2009 began, Karl was facing a difficult time as his daughter Libby was injured in a rafting accident, whilst his stepson Zeke was missing, presumed dead. Hoping to take his mind off Zeke, Karl went to the hospital to check on Libby but Jodie told him that he couldn't do that without her doctor's permission. Karl snapped at Jodie, then at well-meaning Harold Bishop, who Jodie then took through for his chemotherapy session. Later that week, Jodie also helped to treat Susan, whose MS flared up as she tried to deal with what was happening to her family.

A few weeks later, Erinsborough newcomer Cass Freedman scored a trial as a receptionist at the hospital. Having shown Cass the filing system and reminded her about patient confidentiality, Cass took a peek at the file of the next patient, one of Cass' neighbours and rivals, Sam Fitzgerald and learnt that Sam suffered from bi-polar disorder. Meanwhile, Jodie spoke to heavily pregnant Sam about the tests they'd run and explained to her that her original due date was wrong, and it would be around three weeks later than they'd thought. This meant that Sam's ex-husband, Dan couldn't possibly be the father, and when Cass tried to blackmail Sam about her mental condition, she mistakenly blurted out that she'd had no idea about the baby not being Dan's, giving Cass something far juicier to blackmail her about.

The following week, Jodie assisted when Harold Bishop was rushed in after suffering a heart attack. Though Karl was determined to save his friend, having already lost Zeke recently and unable to cope with any further grief, Jodie interrupted with the news that there was a 'Not For Resuscitation' order on Harold's file. Torn, Karl ultimately decided to ignore it and saved Harold's life, though Jodie told him that she would have to officially report his actions, but Harold later realised that he was lucky to be alive and told the hospital that he wanted no action taken against Karl.

Some weeks later, Cass' poor attendance and attitude hadn't gone unnoticed, and Jodie was only too pleased to inform her that Dr Newton wanted to speak with her. A devastated Cass was sacked, the beginning of a terrible day as the people of Erinsborough forced her out of town for her terrible behaviour. A couple of weeks later, Jill Ramsay was brought in, the victim of a hit and run accident, and Jodie informed Jill's niece Elle that the patient was in a critical condition, with a slim chance of survival. Jill died later that day, leaving three children. A couple of weeks later, Jodie looked after Bridget again, when she was involved in an accident and fell onto her stomach. Rushed to hospital complaining that she could no longer feel her baby kicking, she was given an ultrasound and assured that everything was fine. Later that week, Ringo was brought in, suffering from smoke inhalation following a fire at 22 Ramsay Street, though he made a quick recovery.

Soon after, Karl and his family found themselves on the front page of the local newspaper, when his wife Susan offered to be a surrogate for her daughter, Libby. With only a select few people privy to their plans, Karl immediately suspected a leak within the hospital, but Jodie was quick to defend herself and her nursing staff from his accusations. The following week, Jodie helped to look after Bridget when she finally gave birth, but Baby Napier was having difficulty breathing and was placed in an incubator in the neo-natal unit. Though Jodie gave her a photograph of the newborn, Bridget was determined to see her and, with the help of her friends, was taken there in a wheelchair, before the baby was taken out of the incubator and brought down for a cuddle with her mum later that day. Jodie was then caught up in further baby dramas the following week when the Kennedy family were suddenly denied the chance to try IVF, with Susan planning to be a surrogate for daughter, Libby. They demanded to see Dr Newton for an explanation and told Jodie that they wouldn't leave until they received one - Dr Newton then appeared and told them that she had been forbidden to speak about the board's decision. Things only got worse when Bridget heard about what had happened and, as a new mum herself, she decided to arrange a protest. She contacted mother and baby groups in the area and got a huge number of people down to the hospital, where CEO Brian Rode was horrified and tried to get Jodie to get rid of them, though she told him that it wasn't her problem to deal with. The entire fiasco came to an abrupt ending, however, when the police arrived and tried to move baby India, only for Bridget to lash out and get herself arrested for assaulting a police officer.

The following week, the hospital had agreed to go ahead with the IVF after Brian had been blackmailed with a photo of him threatening Bridget, but Susan was running late for the implantation appointment, having initially thought it was the following day. Having convinced her boss at the paper, Paul, to give her a lift, she arrived late, but Paul reminded Jodie that he always gave generously to the hospital's fundraising committee and would have to review that if Susan wasn't given the procedure. Jodie relented and Paul, who had been against the idea of the surrogacy from the beginning, got an insight into why some people needed IVF to have children of their own.

When the Parker family were involved in a serious car accident in the bush, Miranda was the first to be brought to hospital, while Steve remained at the site to help search for Bridget, who had wandered off with baby India, looking for help, and got lost. After a night out in the cold, Bridget was seriously ill and as she received emergency treatment, Jodie took India away to be examined in the baby unit. Whilst Bridget was operated on, everyone waited anxiously for news and although she seemed to recover well, only hours later she died suddenly from an undetected blood clot.

In 2010, Jodie assisted when Lucas had a motorbike accident and was left with spinal injuries, and again a few weeks later, when Karl was brought in as a patient, suffering from chest pains. As he was kept in for observation, Karl took the opportunity to try and expose the problems with staff shortages and funding cuts to the local press. As his heart problem turned out to be indigestion, the hospital visit hadn't been completely wasted, as Brian Rode was sufficiently rattled by Karl's whistle blowing to talk about making changes, and staff including Jodie were incredibly grateful. Returning to work at the hospital, Karl found himself in a battle of wills with younger doctor Doug Harris, with Jodie regularly caught up in their squabbles. Later in the year, Jodie was on hand to reassure Declan when baby India was brought in, after choking on a marshmallow, and became caught up in Karl's personal life again, as a heavily pregnant Steph was brought in, only days after it was revealed that her best friend Libby's husband Dan was the father of her child. Jodie was also working on the day, several weeks later, that Steph ran down and killed Ringo on her motorbike, and when Paul Robinson collapsed, having only days earlier been discharged from hospital following a fall from Lassiter's mezzanine.

In 2011, Jodie tended to the victims of a fire at 26 Ramsay Street and, later that year, she was working on the oncology department, and looked after Jim Dolan when he began his chemotherapy treatment.

Trivia Notes
• Click here to read our interview with Mary Annegeline

Episodes Featured
5373, 5374, 5375, 5437, 5461, 5498, 5500, 5506, 5508, 5522, 5524, 5526, 5527, 5537, 5540, 5550, 5555, 5556, 5557, 5566, 5580, 5607, 5610, 5623, 5627, 5628, 5678, 5691, 5702, 5704, 5713, 5718, 5722, 5728, 5734, 5736, 5737, 5836, 5877, 5878, 5882, 5912, 5951, 5981, 6026, 6033, 6071, 6203

Biography by Steve

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