‘Now or never’ nursing dream achieved
It’s a career 30 years in the making, and Hamilton registered nurse (RN) Tammy Dark made it happen with sheer determination, and plenty of local support.
Seizing a “now or never” moment as her grown-up kids left home four years ago, this month she finally graduated with her CQUniversity Bachelor of Nursing, at age 49.
Tammy completed her studies without having to leave the region, thanks to CQUniversity’s partnership with Western District Health Service, delivering flexible and locally-supported education to grow the local health care workforce.
Dream then disaster
As a Western Districts farm kid, Tammy Dark wanted to follow her mum into nursing.
As she finished year 12, a serious car accident left her father with an acquired brain injury, and Tammy put plans on hold to care for younger siblings and manage the farm.
“He was in Alfred Hospital for 18 months, and my mum was there supporting him – I was looking after farm and my younger sisters, then met my future husband, got married, had children. So nursing was very much on the backburner!” she explained.
At the same time, two of her younger sisters became nurses, and Tammy attempted to follow.
“When my kids were little, I tried to study nursing three times! And each time, it was too much, I couldn’t do it.”
The opportunity to study online with CQU and complete training locally made the difference.
Balancing life, work, study
“I was working as a cleaner at the Hamilton Base Hospital, and I needed that income. So I was studying three days, working four, and I could just make it all balance – just!” Tammy said.
She even completed an optional remote placement, on Palm Island in Far North Queensland, and said the opportunity was “life-changing”.
Tammy’s travel was subsidised by a CQUniCares Scott Williams Foundation Placement Bursary, and she said the scholarship funding made a big difference to making the experience happen.
Now six months into her graduate year, the passionate RN said her CQUniversity graduation, on Wednesday 12 August, was a chance to celebrate a lot of learning.
“In a rural hospital, you see cardiac patients, strokes, trauma, car accidents, farm accidents, it’s such a huge diverse range – it’s an incredible place to have trained, and I’m still learning every day,” she said.
As a life-long local, she’s proud to be supporting her community through her career.
“I’d say 90 per cent of the patients I nurse are known to me, and it can be a really vulnerable time – you do see the relief when they recognise a local face,” Tammy said.
Healthy partnership
For nearly a decade, CQUniversity has offered a local pathway for Western District nurses, with lecturers travelling to Hamilton to deliver local residential schools at the Clinical Skills Lab at Hamilton Base Hospital.
The lab simulates a ward environment, where students can manage patients in a clinical setting, funded by CQUniversity and WDHS.
The partnership means all required work placements can be completed locally, reducing costs for students, and growing community connection.
CQUniversity Dean, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Sciences Professor Lisa Wirihana said the WDHS pathway has supported 107 local students.
“We know when regional people are supported to study in regional areas, they are more likely to stay in local to work after graduation, and that’s a great thing for regional hospitals and health care, and for their communities.”
Lorraine Hedley, WDHS Executive Director Acute Operations and Chief Nursing & Midwifery Officer, congratulated the CQUniversity Nursing graduates.
“Tammy’s journey is a wonderful story, and it demonstrates why WDHS partnered with CQU,” she said.
“The partnership has helped strengthen our workforce while also creating opportunities for people within our local communities to pursue a nursing career by removing many of the barriers that previously limited access to education and employment.”
Register for the CQU/WDHS Bachelor of Nursing Internship Info Session, hosted online on Monday 28 September, 11am-12pm.
Explore more pathways at CQUniversity’s Nursing course page.
