Bachelor of Nursing student Olivia Stead is in her second year of nursing at the Adelaide Nursing School, University of Adelaide.
1 What inspired you to choose a career in nursing?
I was born with congenital health conditions that have, and continue to, affect me throughout my life. Through these experiences, I have seen and felt the profound difference that great healthcare staff can make. As a result, I have wanted to work in the healthcare field from a young age. I feel strongly that I want to make that positive impact for other people as a registered nurse.
2 Can you share a moment from your clinical placements that confirmed nursing was the right path for you?
Whilst I love using the clinical skills I am developing, the moments that I have I valued the most have been when I have been able to support a patient or their family member on a human level.
The opportunities to listen to their concerns, advocate for my patient or do something small for them to make them feel like themselves again. These moments and the chances we get to make a difference to each patient, as their own unique person, have confirmed that I am going into the right career.
3 How do you manage stress and find balance between your studies, work and personal life?
I make sure I get enough sleep and take care of myself. I also make sure I make time for social activities and connecting with friends around my study and work commitments. Finding balance between these parts of my life, as well as remembering my end goal of working as a nurse, helps me to stay centred.
4 What’s your top study tip?
Often learning and understanding the context of something will help it make sense. If I understand the pathophysiology, the clinical manifestations make much more sense, and I can more easily piece my learning together.
5 Which specialty are you most interested in, and why?
I am interested in going into a speciality area within paediatrics. I haven’t decided where that will be yet, but I would love to work in an area with patients who are on a longer-term treatment path, where I get the opportunity to provide continuity of care and build an ongoing therapeutic relationship with the patient and their support people. That may be the Enteral Nutrition Service, Haematology/Oncology, Cystic Fibrosis Clinic or the Child and Family Health Service. I have insight into life with an ongoing condition, and I like that in these areas we have the opportunity to support patients through challenging journeys in these areas. Eventually, I would like to become a nurse practitioner.
6 What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting their nursing journey?
My advice would be to get some work or volunteering experience in the health field. It will give you a good idea if this area is for you or not. It may also help you realise what’s possible in health and areas you may be interested in working.
7 If you weren’t pursuing nursing, what career might you have chosen?
For a long time, I wanted to become a paramedic. I ended up choosing nursing and I now know it is the right choice because of the variety of opportunities it has opened for me. However, paramedicine is still a career I admire and may have ended up in if I wasn’t studying nursing.
