March 2011
New nurse graduates Leslie
Piper, Jenna Pritchett and Colleen Leonavicius. (Picture courtesy of the
Latrobe Valley Express.)
Latrobe Regional Hospital welcomes new graduates
The graduates, who bring a range
of experiences and backgrounds to the role, have a commitment to nursing
in common.
LRH Director of Nursing,
Midwifery and Clinical Services Amanda Cameron welcomed the graduates.
‘For the graduate nurses, this
is a consolidation of their university education and learning,’ Ms Cameron
said.
‘For the hospital, these
graduates secure a sustainable workforce into the future.’
The one-year graduate nurse program will see the new nurses
working in four areas of the hospital, rotating throughout the year.
The new nurses are supported by
senior staff over the year, learning through practice and theory.
They also come together for
study days involving lectures and hands-on training sessions.
The graduates have completed a
Bachelor of Nursing degree, most having studied at Monash
University Gippsland.
Graduate nurse program
co-ordinator Jennie Wood said the graduates would experience many firsts this
year – including their first emergency.
‘There will also be their first
experience of shift work, doing night shift and late/early shifts,’ Ms Wood
said.
‘Those things will not be easy
for the graduates but they will have their first experience of the camaraderie
of working on and belonging to a ward.
‘As students, they would come in
to the hospital, do their work placement and leave.
‘Now they have the opportunity
to build a rapport with their workmates and benefit from the support that comes
with that.’
Ms Wood said hospital patients
reacted positively to the new graduates.
‘They are supportive of the
graduates and interested in how they are finding the job.
‘They appreciate that everyone
has to start somewhere.’
A further 12 graduates will start at the hospital in April.
