About the Author
Providing the best training for our nurses
A stick figure with a white dress and red cross hat. Hannah Kent still remembers this drawing from her Year 1 diary. With a grandmother and mother who trained as nurses, perhaps it was inevitable Hannah would, too. “I’ve always wanted to help people and felt that was my career calling as well.”
That calling would eventually bring Hannah to Avondale and then to the wards of Sydney Adventist Hospital where she continued her learning in critical care. “In life-threatening situations, I like to feel in control. You’re helping patients who are in compromising or difficult positions, which often comes as a shock to them and their family.”
Hannah recalls a patient whose condition deteriorated quickly after a procedure. “She went into cardiac arrest so there was no time to waste. We put defibrillator pads on her and started advanced life support. Our well-equipped nurses surrounded the patient, providing CPR while in transport to theatre giving her the best chance for survival. When she made it back to the ward, she expressed her gratitude and appreciation for the care we’d provided. I was so proud of my team.”
After receiving a scholarship from Open Heart International, Hannah joined a team in Nepal on a month-long secondment. Her main areas of focus: a women’s health clinic and caring for burn victims. “Nepal was an experience I’ll never forget. One of the things I remember is the endless lines of patients waiting hours to be seen and having to pay for their stay upfront. Our healthcare system in Australia is truly a blessing. We’re able to provide a high standard of care for anyone who walks through our doors.”
But with a high standard of care comes a high standard of training for nurses. And nursing students at Avondale get some of the best training in Australia. “I grew personally and professionally at Avondale,” says Hannah. “My lecturers always had time to show me how something’s done, now I want to do the same for my students.” After working full time as a registered nurse, Hannah has returned to Avondale as an associate lecturer to grow the next generation of nurses. “I want to ensure my students enter the workforce feeling confident in their capabilities. Regardless of how tough the situation may look, they should feel they have been equipped with the resources to face that challenge head on.”
Hannah can see the light switch go on when her students are in the Sim Lab. “By practising skills they’ll use every day on every shift, students have the opportunity to work through simulations that require decision making and solution-focused approaches giving them the tools they need in the real world. Having a larger, more modern Sim Lab on our Lake Macquarie campus will give our student more hands-on experience before their clinical placements.”
Nursing is hard work, says Hannah. “You have to apply yourself because, at the end of only three years, you’re responsible for someone’s life.”
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