Rural nursing stands out to me and is an area I wish to pursue my nursing career for several reasons.  I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to be completing a Registered Nursing Graduate program at Central Gippsland Health Service (CGHS) .   Whilst I know it will have challenges, I am excited to see how widely I can expand in my knowledge with this opportunity and how far I can push myself to grow.   This year I have experienced placements at CGHS in both the Emergency Department and the Surgical ward Unit and with this, I felt a great sense of community and belonging amongst the staff, patients and families.  Bonds that I am eager to continue expand.  I have also participated in placements in other rural areas including Bairnsdale Regional Health Service and Gippsland Southern Health Service Leongatha.

I am an extremely empathetic individual with a strong dedication in helping others and  I can really appreciate the opportunity to build more thorough therapeutic relationships with patients whilst they experience some of their most vulnerable moments in their lives at CGHS.   I have a family at home, and it is important to me to be able to put 100% into both work life and my personal life with my family.

I love to learn new things and continue to develop my critical thinking and clinical skills enhancing my scope of practice and the dynamic in rural nursing is always changing therefore the opportunities for me to learn every single day is substantial.   Rural  nursing is going to push me out of my comfort zone and push me to grow in ways that a metropolitan area may not necessarily do so.   In my placements at CGHS I have seen many Graduate Nurses to take on the nursing in charge role throughout shifts, and this excites me knowing this opportunity is strongly encouraged for new graduate nurses, as I would like to continue to push myself.

In October of 2024 I completed a placement in the surgical ward at Central Gippsland Health, the facility that I am about to start my Graduate Position at. This placement provided me the opportunity to consolidate numerous skills that I have learnt and completed in clinical practices during my Bachelor of Nursing Degree at Federation University. Some of the skills encompassed medication administration including oral medication administration and IV therapy. Moreover, venepuncture, wound dressings and wound care. I also greatened my ability in pre and post operative care of patients having orthopaedic surgeries including total hip and knee replacements. I got to further build on my critical thinking, communication skills, teamwork building, time management, patient assessments and patient education skills. This placement made me realise that I need to take every day as it comes and that every day, I will learn something new. Nursing is not always going to be easy, but it will be so worth it.

All the team on the surgical ward were extremely warm and welcoming, easy to build relationships with and were so supportive to myself as a student. I always felt comfortable to ask questions and seek advice along the way. This made my placement enjoyable and made me recognise that this is the hospital that I want to be working at. It also put into perspective that it’s going to be particularly important to have supportive nurses around me as nursing is going to have hard moments alongside the rewarding moments. I really hope that one of my three rotations throughout 2025 is on the surgical ward. It’s somewhere I am eager to independently work and experience more thoroughly.

The last couple of months I have spent a lot of time completing competencies to start my graduate year and filling out paperwork to ensure all formalities are attended to. I had the opportunity to head into the hospital in December for a meet and greet with the other graduate nurses and to meet the Graduate Nurse Coordinator. I got to tour the hospital again, although I am relatively familiar to the hospital now it was great to do this with my fellow graduate nurses. We got to try on our uniforms and order them in and organise our hospital access and identification. On the 3^rd of February I start my first rotation in the Paediatric ward at Central Gippsland Health and I am feeling so very nervous but extremely excited for this next chapter. This ward is new to me and not an area I have worked in before, but I am so enthusiastic to have this opportunity and strengthen my knowledge and care in this area.

I am tremendously thankful to have been selected as a recipient of The Rotary Club of Sale Health Scholarship. It is going to be so helpful along this journey and the first payment was already very helpful to me and my family at Christmas time. It helped provide my three young children Christmas presents and helped us enjoy the holidays in a wholesome way before I start working. I have spent so much of my time by their side, that this new journey is going to be eye opening and a big change for my whole family. Husband and children included. My kids have watched me go through the journey of study, they have seen the struggles and the triumphs along the way and have supported me no matter what. They are my biggest supporters and have encouraged me to pursue my dreams every step of the way. I am ready and eager to begin this journey.

I look forward to reflecting on my first rotation at Central Gippsland Health in the Paediatric ward over the next few months and sharing my experience with the Rotary Club of Sale.