More than 100 graduate nurses and midwives will begin their careers at Bendigo Health this year.
Part of the first group of 21 graduates who began this week are registered nurses (RN) Sam Struzzi and Madi Murley. They followed different journeys to find their careers in healthcare.
Sam made the jump from being a travel agent to nursing after COVID took a toll on his industry.
“It sort of all fell apart after COVID, so I took it as an opportunity to pursue what I really wanted to do,” he said.
Sam has lived with Type 1 diabetes for 37 years and said “a tremendous part of my success” was the nursing team that helped him.
“They gave me the tools and knowledge I needed and I’d like to give back,” he said.
Madi had been working as an enlisted nurse before continuing her studies to become an RN.
“I’m so excited to go into a new role, I know it’s going to be so supportive,” she said.
“I’ve worked so hard here and it’s finally paid off.”
With intakes in January, February, March, April and October, our Graduate Nursing and Midwifery programs facilitate the transition from undergraduate student to professional clinician within a supported environment.
Each program sees graduates consolidate their nursing/midwifery skills and enhance their knowledge and confidence whilst caring for patients, residents, clients and consumers in a range of clinical settings.
Bendigo Health Chief Operating Officer David Rosaia said the programs created a “great injection of new staff into our organisation”.
“We invest in our staff, we offer all our graduates ongoing contracts and have a 95% hit rate, which means most of the graduates do stay on with us,” he said.
“We have brand new facilities, high technology, we have a very supportive graduate year, it’s really a program of choice.”
The 2024 graduates will commence a range of programs including Aged care, Critical care, Enrolled nursing, General nursing, Mental health, Midwifery, Nursing and Midwifery, and Perioperative/Perianaesthetics.
These programs provide a wide range of clinical learning opportunities in areas such as aged care, cancer services, emergency, midwifery, medical, mental health, orthopaedics, paediatrics, palliative care, rehabilitation, renal, surgical and theatre.