Orthopaedic nurse Courtney Smith is sharing her path to registration as a nurse as part of the 2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife to encourage others to explore their options, take opportunities and to invest in their own professional development.

The 2020 events are shining a light on nurses and midwives and paying tribute to trail-blazing nurse Florence Nightingale on the bicentenary of her birth.  

Courtney started her journey helping her dad care for her grandmother. 

“Even though she was my grandma and she was family, it just felt so warming and it was a really good feeling to know I could give something back to her,” Courtney said.

Courtney took the opportunity to start a school-based traineeship at West Moreton Health at Ipswich Hospital. This provides a pathway through a Certificate III in Aged Care and offers employment opportunities for the students as Assistants in Nursing.

Courtney worked as an AIN as she studied, graduating with a Bachelor of Nursing.

“I worked as an AIN for four years during university and have stayed on at West Moreton Health. I fell in love and I can’t see myself doing anything else,” she said.

“I feel like I’m lucky going through a school-based traineeship, and onto an AIN and RN. It meant I already had the base skills downpat for patient care.” 

Courtney’s story is a reminder that there are many pathways to becoming a health care professional.  

“Nursing is nerve wracking, knowing that there’s someone to look after. But knowing why you’re doing it makes the difference,” she said.  

Courtney says her advice to students would be to always ask for help, with nurses ready to share their knowledge with the next generation.

West Morton Health Nursing Director, Nursing and Midwifery Education and Research Service, Ruth McCaffery, said nursing graduates brought a broad range of prior experience with them.

“We are proud to welcome graduate nurses and midwives with many cultural backgrounds and life experiences,” she said.

“Courtney is a great example of a graduate nurse who comes with years of life experience before completing her degree and that gives invaluable depth to the care for our consumers.”

West Moreton Health welcomed more than 60 graduate nurses and midwives in 2020 across Ipswich and rural hospitals.