Alisha Tainton
Rotary Club of Sale
Rural Nursing Scholarship 2017/2018
Federation University, Gippsland Campus, Vic
Final Rural Placement – Central Gippsland Health (Sale)
Post Grad Placement – Central Gippsland Health (Sale)
Why do I wish to do rural and remote training?
I wish to be a rural nurse because I have lived in the country all my life and would like to help all the hard working men and women that do not often go to their doctor or the hospital when they become sick. You find that people that live on farms and out away from a town have a ‘she be right’ attitude which sometimes get them into trouble. I love the team work that you develop in a small country hospital and the relationship that comes with that.
I am a passionate person and I will put everything into helping my patient and being a voice for the patient I will be an advocate and to try and do my best. In my placement at Central Gippsland Health Services I saw how much the nurses in the emergency department worked to care for the patients I learned a great deal and I hope to be place there for a rotation in my graduate year.
Final (University) Rural Report
The last major placement that I completed while at university was a block of four weeks in Sale emergency department. Within this four weeks I learnt a lot about teamwork and how everyone works together in a crisis. It was also a great department to help with time management skills, prioritising patients and primary health assessments. They also helped me with the interpretation of ECG and the management of airways during the use of an airvio. By the end of my first week I was taking a patient load of 3 and also assisting other nurses if they need any help.
I remember the first shift on the floor of the emergency department, started with a code grey trauma, a code grey is a security response to which there may be potentially have aggression by a patient. Most of the medical staff where helping and there was a lot of people everywhere, so I watched how they all helped and calmed the patient down, after a while I went to see if I could help with the other patients on the ward any way I could. At the end of the shift I had debrief with my preceptor and talked about how they calmed the patient and what strategy’s where in place to help him on the ward. What a crazy first day I thought.
I was a scribe for many MET calls (Medical Emergency Team), which meant I would document what was happening when the MET Team arrived and in a lot of detail. This meant written every vital sign, every drug they were giving the patient, at what time and how much. Making sure the I was asking them what they were doing so I could write it all down. It was very stressful and very full on to get everything down. Also making sure who was there at the time of the met call.
This last placement was also when I found out my graduate year was going to be at the Central Gippsland hospital. On that day I remember I was nervous the whole morning of that shift waiting for the news that I had a graduate position, I still remember 10/10/17 at 10am was when we all found out if we had a grad year. I went a little earlier at 9:30 ish to check online and that when I found out I had one, for the rest of the shift I couldn’t concentrate I was that excited that I had a job for next year and a new career was going to start.
Alisha Tainton
Post Grad Rural Placement Report
My graduate year at Central Gippsland Health Service has been a very busy year in that I have been rotated into three different departments within the hospital which have been, Maffra district hospital as My Aged Care rotation, my high acuity placement was in theatre which I loved and wish to go back to once I have completed more studies and now I’m in surgical ward which is a mix of both post surgical patients and medical patients.
The ward work has a very different feel that I haven’t got my head around yet but I am getting there, I find it hard to remember everything that is required to do and it feels like the day goes to fast to complete all duties. Not enough time in the day. But I do love the staff that work in surgical ward they are friendly easy going and a caring bunch of people with the patients care their number one priority, I find it easy to ask them questions even if it’s a silly one and they always are there to help if needed.
Being able to see patient get better with the care that we provide makes me feel like all the study at university and all the hours of study was worth it. Helping the patients is an amazing feeling and also talking to them and getting to know them is great it makes them feel more relaxed talking to them and just taking the time to understand what they are feeling.
This year has taught me so many things that I will use for the rest of my nursing career, I have loved working here and I would recommend the hospital for anyone looking for work.