DUBBO WORKS
New nursing career begins...
NURSING graduate Sally Cullenward is living proof that it’s never too late to change your career.
As a single mother and mature aged student, Ms Cullenward quit her fulltime job in Local Government in order to undertake a Bachelor of Nursing at Charles Sturt University (CSU).
“I have wanted to do this for a very long time,” she said of her decision.
“As a single mother I waited until both my children had either left school or were in their final year before commencing study.”
With her choice of degree unavailable to study externally at the time, Ms Cullenward took on four subjects each semester along with paid employment to support herself while she studied.
“I worked three jobs casually which generally equated to full time work, plus studied a full load.
“First year nursing at that point had to be internal, distance education was not offered – this has now changed,” she told Dubbo Photo News.
Ms Cullenward says that flexible employment and supportive university staff helped her get through her studies.
“My life pretty much consisted of working the majority of the day then going home having a quick dinner then hitting the books and writing assessments until early hours of the morning.
“I was very fortunate that one place of employment was very flexible with me, allowing me to leave work to attend pracs and tutorials.
“I also found the subject coordinators and lecturers to be very supportive as often they were from other campuses.”
A major challenge during this time was making ends meet financially, particularly when undertaking the practical side of her degree.
“Often we were sent to other hospitals in other towns where you would have to find and pay for accommodation,” Ms Cullenward explained.
“This became more so in the last two years of my degree with pracs often being for five weeks, which means five weeks without any income.”
Ms Cullenward’s determination as a mature age student probably helped to pave the way to success, although she initially had to ease her way back into academic writing after a long absence from study.
“I think being a mature aged student helped, I knew I had three years to do my degree so I had to remain very focused and prioritised my life, put a lot of things on hold and went without to achieve my goal.”
Overall, Ms Cullenward said that CSU had provided a good study environment to achieve her goals.
“I found CSU to be a great institution, I cannot fault Dubbo Campus or the staff employed there. It is a great choice being so small which makes it more personal and easier to catch up with your lecturers should you need to. Of course, there could be improvements and sometimes I found there to be a little bit of inconsistency amongst markers and their expectations.”
Ms Cullenward now has plenty of employment options available and says that nursing opens up a world of opportunity.
“My employment options are so extensive now and can take me anywhere I want to go.
“For the moment I am staying in Dubbo, commencing my career at the Base (Dubbo Hospital) on February 18 as part of the Transition to Practice New Graduate Program.”
She is also excited about getting started in her new career.
“I wanted to work in this area as I find it a privilege to care for people and their families when they are often at their most vulnerable.
“I am little bit terrified but excited at the same time, I’m going to have people’s lives in my hands.
“Uni and text books teach you the basics, but the real learning comes from hands-on experience.
“Every day, there will be new challenging patients and you will see things that you haven’t seen before. It is a career where you never stop learning!”