This year Darling Downs Health has welcomed a record number of first year of practice nurses and midwives across our facilities.
The 107 graduate nurses and midwives have commenced orientation courses and will be providing care for our community in the coming weeks.
Nursing and Midwifery Services Executive Director Andrea Nagle said the large number of first year of practice nurses and midwives will play an important part in ensuring Darling Downs Health continues to provide an excellent experience for patients and their families.
“We know that our nursing and midwifery staff play such an important role in the patient journey and this graduate program provides an excellent opportunity for them to interact with patients and their families in very practical ways, while also continuing to learn with the support of their new colleagues.
“I’m so pleased to welcome our largest cohort of first year of practice nurses and midwives to the health service and we look forward to supporting their transition to registered nursing or midwifery positions.”
The former Director of Disaster and Emergency Management with Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Peter McNamee saw the care that nurses provide and the importance of their role to the Health Service and wanted to be a part of it.
My pathway into nursing has been a bit unconventional. I have been working in health for seven years but in a disaster management role at Gold Coast Health. While in this role I learnt a lot about nursing, the care that nurses provide and wanted to be part of it, especially in our smaller Queensland rural communities.”
South Burnett resident and enrolled nurse, Lucy Ross, has recently completed her degree and is excited to complete her graduate program at Murgon Hospital.
“I grew up in the South Burnett and I did my last placement at Murgon Hospital and thoroughly enjoyed it there and thought, why not?
“I’m very excited, nursing has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember and I’m really glad to be doing it.”
The 12 month graduate program will allow the nurse and midwifery graduates to put all they’ve learned at university into practice.
“I can’t wait to see what these graduates accomplish during their time with us and I wish them all the very best,” Ms. Nagle said.