General News
24 March, 2024
Nursing student recognised for excellence
A nursing student from Horsham has been selected as Federation TAFE Trainee of the Year.
A nursing student from Horsham has been selected as Federation TAFE Trainee of the Year.
Tammy McDonald, a Diploma of Nursing student, took out the title in the 2024 Federation TAFE Awards for Excellence, held in Ballarat.
Mrs McDonald said she was overwhelmed at the award.
"In my class alone there was a high calibre of trainees who all deserved this award, let alone all the other trainees across Federation TAFE," she said.
"I'm honoured that my teachers felt I was deserving.
"I've put my heart and soul into my training and am excited to have started work in an acute setting in Horsham and to have commenced studying my Bachelor of Nursing."
Before studying, Mrs McDonald was a communications and marketing manager, but she said receiving the award reinforced her decision to make a career change later in life and she looked forward to what the future held.
"When I was younger I wanted to be a midwife and there was a course for a straight midwife back then instead of being a nurse as well," Mrs McDonald said.
"I considered doing that but I knew that locally they wanted the dual qualifications and being a nurse at that time of my life wasn’t of interest to me so I pursued other avenues and took time to have my family."
After working in communications and marketing at Rural Northwest Heath in Warracknabeal, Mrs McDonald said her interest in nursing was renewed.
"The travelling got a bit much for me so I took a job back in Horsham but it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing long term," she said.
"When the opportunity for a traineeship came up, I jumped at the chance.
"There was no way I could afford to quit work and only study so the traineeship was the perfect opportunity for me and the timing was just right."
Mrs McDonald said returning to study was a challenge as it had been a long time since had been in the classroom, but her fellow trainees and teachers were all extremely supportive.
Mrs McDonald is now studying a Bachelor of Nursing and said she hoped to study midwifery when she completed that.
"I’d also like to try my hand at working as a theatre nurse at some stage," she said.
"It’s hard work at the moment as I’m working as an emergency nurse here in Horsham and also studying full time online."
Mrs McDonald said she was incredibly thankful for the family support she had received, adding that as her youngest child was 16, her husband and children had been capable and great at helping out.
"Sometimes it got a bit hard when assignments were due and I had other things on but we made it work," she said.
"It’s probably harder at the moment than it was during the traineeship.
"Shiftwork has also been interesting with having a family - they had to get used to Mum not always being there to cook tea etcetera."