QEII Hospital has welcomed its first wave of nursing graduates for 2025 this January, as 29 eager new grads gear up for a year of hands-on learning.
The January cohort will be the first of three graduate waves to launch their nursing careers at QEII in 2025, with a record 63 Registered Nurses (RNs) set to join the hospital by March.
With the Graduate Support Team watching over them, the new nurses will get a taste for variety as they take up specialist placements across the hospital, from medical and surgical wards to outpatient departments and specialty units including ED, ICU, Perioperative and Endoscopy.
Graduate Nurse Alysha is hitting the ground running with a placement in ED, after 18 months in the nurse pool as a University Student in Nursing (USIN) gave her a view into the array of possibilities that come with nursing.
“Before that, I was a birth photographer for 12 years in labour and delivery. I started my nursing journey when my dad became unwell with Leukaemia,” Alysha explained.
“I really enjoyed my QEII placement. There was excellent teamwork and really supportive nurses here, so I felt it was a really good place for me to start my journey,” she said.
“I was lucky enough to have a placement at ED, and I loved the layout and how everyone works together. I like knowing why things are happening and how they are happening, and ED is a really good environment for that.”
After 10 years as a beauty therapist, Graduate Nurse Mali took a chance on nursing, where she and Alysha crossed paths during their time as pool USINs.
“I was drawn to ED because I like the idea of new experiences and trying different things. I did the pool placement and went to Vietnam for a placement. My heart was really drawn to Emergency after that, so I decided to throw my hat in the ring,” said Mali.
While the friends settle into their new home base at ED, they look forward to gaining valuable practical experience and making memories with their new QEII family.
“Having come from pool nursing, I’m excited to have a home base every day and get to know my team really well,” said Alysha.
“It’s so nice to be starting with such a big group of people and to feel so connected with them all as we go on this journey together,” added Mali.
Nurse Educator Renee Langridge says the Graduate Support Team, QEII NUMs, educators and all QEII nurses are ready to guide the new nurses as they settle into nurse life and build their practical confidence.
“We're very excited to have the new cohort of 2025 graduate nurses join the team. The Graduate Support Team is here to welcome them all, and it's going to be a really exciting and interesting year for them as they put into practice all they have learned at university,” she said.
“Our goal is to support the graduate nurses through our program over the next 12 months, set them up for a long and successful nursing career, and hopefully retain them as permanent and capable members of the QEII nursing tribe.”
We wish all the new nurses a successful graduate year as they launch their QEII careers!