Things have been a little quiet around these parts. Truth is, with uni and work I have been flat out like a lizard drinking. And on top of that we are organising a Partner Visa for MIML™ so he can stay in Australia which is pretty high on my list of priorities! Even my knitting and spinning has been less than usual.

I have two weeks until the final day of term. Well one week and 6 days now. And one assignment to hand in in that time. Before then however, I have my interview for a place in the grad program at the hospital. I obviously wrote an ok application because it has me being interviewed and I know I have a pretty decent grade point average (GPA). But now I will have to sit in front of a panel and possibly also in a group situation with my peers and show people why I want to be a novice practitioner.

Throughout my schooling I chopped and changed between wanting to work as a teacher and wanting to work in the health field. I never thought I would get the grades necessary to study medicine (plus I was never that excited by advanced maths and chemistry, even though I am loving chemistry more and more as I grow older!) I did work experience as a physiotherapist and remember enjoying it, but my feedback was that I didn’t ask enough questions. I think I have overcome that in the intervening years! In my conservative family of origin, nurses didn’t rate highly. I was in my senior years of school when the Victorian nurses strike occurred and I had never had very much to do with nurses.

Fast forward and I decided I was going to be a teacher. Except I realised after finishing 3.5 years of a 4 year degree that I really didn’t like the idea of dealing with parents and teaching children the basics and also how to critically appraise the world they live in was not really my passion. Even after finishing my first year of education I went to information sessions on the new Bachelor of Midwifery degree at Flinders, however with young children I couldn’t commit to full time study. It wasn’t until 2.5 years ago when I was again between jobs that a friend who has been a nurse for many years told me that I should study nursing as I “deal well with people, am used to arguing with doctors and because you will be good and never out of a job.” I thought back to midwifery and did some research and found I would need to complete a Bachelor of Nursing first as nowhere up here offered direct entry midwifery.

The last two and a half years have shown me that my friend was right! I am a kind, caring and compassionate nurse who values the individual in a holistic manner, not just for the reason they are seeking medical attention. I enjoy working in fast paced environments as part of a multidisciplinary team that also recognises the patient and their carers if applicable are part of the team. I am always willing to take personal responsibility for my role in the team. One of the reasons I believe I deal well under pressure is I am a reflective nurse and believe I will only grow in my practice through reflection.

I have enjoyed every one of my placements and whilst I still wonder if I might pursue midwifery at a later stage, I am becoming more and more drawn to cementing my skills in ward based nursing that may lead to working in ED. I really enjoy working with patients experiencing mental health crises, however I do not really think that a career as a mental health nurse is what I really want. Whilst I can see my passion for education influencing my nursing, in the future I would like to investigate nurse education either with patients or with undergraduate nurses. Regardless of where I end up, I know I will always stick to my philosophy of treating patients in the way I would like my family members treated.

I look forward to starting my career as a registered nurse and have been counting down the weeks and months for some time! Whilst I hope that the light at the end of the tunnel is a beautiful lookout where I will be able to survey where I have come from and what I have learnt throughout my degree, I also recognise I am at the beginning of a new journey and look forward to where that will lead me.