Growing up in a regional community I have seen first-hand the importance and impact that rural hospitals have on communities.   They have demonstrated that there is more to healthcare then just providing medical services; that it provides community support.   The sense of community is an important factor for me as I have grown up assisting the community through many services projects, such as Lions Australia and the Australian Mentoring Experience (EIME).

It was through these programs that I demonstrated my passion for serving others and was inspired to become a health professional.  the community has attracted me into rural nursing as it demonstrated a holistic approach to health and the benefits a community can have on an individual’s health and well being.  As a nurse intending on specialising in Indigenous Care, a holistic approach and sense of community is key for their spiritual connection to improve health outcomes.   Being given this opportunity will allow to be more involved in the Indigenous community and improving the lives of Indigenous People.

In addition, I would like to become a rural nurse as it has shown that rural and region hospitals suffer from reduced resources.   The reduction in resources can be seen as a benefit for a developing nurse as it can provide me with the opportunity to be resourceful and increase my critical thinking skills in unique circumstances.   Further on, rural hospitals with limited space can provide me as a rural nurse the opportunity to analyse, assess and treat varying health conditions.

As a rural nursing student within a Regional University, I have spent many placements over the course of my study within rural and regional hospitals in various departments; some that have made a great impact on me is the renal ward, dialysis and emergency. Each of these departments are unique in there own way and provide challenging circumstances for a developing nurse. These departments also provided me with the opportunity to learn different types of nursing and experience different learning situations. For example, the emergency department provided me with the opportunity to learn about stenosis and aortic dissections; these are two conditions that I did not learn within the classroom and felt terrified on how to help when I came across them. These conditions were a challenging situation for me but the staff I worked alongside were terrific in providing me with the knowledge on the conditions, the examinations that needed to be conducted and the treatment. Dialysis made a great impact in my nursing career as it is an area where as I student my practical skills were limited due to safety but the knowledge that the staff provided was impeccable. Learning about dialysis and chronic kidney disease demonstrated a value to learning and developing as an inspiring Indigenous Care nurse and gave me the opportunity to practice a holistic approach with patients.

It was moments like these in the emergency and dialysis departments that demonstrated that nursing has many layers and that there is more to learn with health as we progress and develop as nurses. It is a career that we can continue to learn and adapt in our changing world. It demonstrated that just because we have graduated, it does not mean we are done learning. I am eager to see what my graduate year has install for me and hopeful that it will give me challenges that I can utilise as a developing nurse.

As of July, I have completed the first 6 months of my graduate nursing program; this was spent within the Rehabilitation Unit of Bairnsdale Regional Health Service. Within the Rehabilitation unit, I have developed countless skills working with rehab, acute, and detox patients. Working within a rehab unit, you can have patients for a varying amount of time, some for six months; as a result of having long term patients I developed a good rapport with my patients as you build a barrier of trust and get to know them on a personal level. I have found that a key element in rehabilitation and detox is utilising the holistic approach; which is viewing the whole person in means of their health, not just their physical. In a holistic approach we support the individual’s physical, emotional, spiritual and social wellbeing – this is supported with the allied health team, social workers and us as nurses building that level of trust and rapport with our patients.

For the next six months, I will be working within a clinic in Lakes Entrance. Learning within a clinic will demonstrate the differences between clinic nursing and inpatient nursing. Within the last two weeks of being stationed at the clinic, I have begun to learn how to assess ears, and observe how ear syringing is performed, whilst also developing skills in triaging and wound management. In addition, working within a clinic has allowed me the opportunity to perform assessments on varying age groups and be able to focus on my secondary assessments in order to best assess a client.

However, clinic nursing does come with barriers that I have been learning to overcome. For example, I have seen that a large proportion of the community have a limited health literacy and this needs to be taken into consideration when communicating with patients. In addition, many clinics do not have the same access to resources and medications as hospitals, this means treatments can vary in situations but they still fall within best practice.