Over the duration of my four weeks of clinical placement at Goulburn’s mental health facility, Chisholm Ross Centre, in regional New South Wales, I worked with an amazing collaborative multidisciplinary team consisting of registered nurses, physiatrists, psychologists, social workers and peer workers. All were very welcoming to me as a young student in a new environment and I was provided with many educational opportunities which I will carry with me into my career over the coming years.
I was introduced to many patients living with mental illness who were experiencing relapse and crisis. I developed many meaningful professional relationships with a multitude of patients, and was privileged to watch them progress through their journey of mental health recovery.
Recent government data suggests a mere 1.1% of Australian nurses and midwives identified as Indigenous Australians. By obtaining a Bachelor of Nursing I will give back to my Indigenous community by representing our mob as a Registered Nurse.
Upon graduation I aspire to work in Aboriginal health as an Indigenous nurse with an aim to assist in closing the current health gap. By employing a grassroots approach I hope to create true change for the current health status of our First Nations people.
I am a proud successful applicant of the Aussiewide Transport Scholarship, one of the Undergraduate Student Remote Placement Scholarships provided by CRANAplus this year. This monetary assistance considerably aided me over the four weeks of my clinical nursing placement.
These placements greatly prepare students to be competent and confident nurses upon graduation, but the financial stress is limiting, as there is no employment income for the period of the placements. It places great strain on students who have to pay bills, purchase groceries and simply buy fuel for your car. The generous scholarship awarded to me by CRANAplus alleviated part of my monetary stress as I was able to use the funds of my scholarship to refuel my car each week to attend clinical placement. Thank you CRANAplus.
