Not so long ago, much of Lucinda Gibson’s working life revolved around ants, beetles and golden sun-moths.
Once an entomologist and conservation ecologist in Western Australia, Lucinda left the world of invertebrates behind when she switched to nursing in 2020.
It might seem a dramatic shift, but for Lucinda and her family, it made a lot of sense.
“I’ve got lots of nurses in my family, and I always thought that if I was to study again, then I’d go back and do nursing – and that’s what I did.”
Having grown up in the country, she was drawn to rural practice and is now working as a Registered Nurse at Echuca Regional Health and Lockington and District Bush Nursing Centre in Victoria.
Keen to build on her evolving skills and, attracted by generous Federal Government subsidies, Lucinda signed up to a La Trobe short course last year, the Professional Certificate in Rural Nursing Practice.
“I just found it so interesting, and so applicable to the areas that I work in that I buckled down and smashed it out,” she says.
“Work’s been so busy.”
“I’m always learning on the job, but this gave me time to sit back and learn some theory and skills that really impact the areas that I work, particularly in the bush nursing setting.”
“I was able to really properly think about the barriers that these communities face.”
Lucinda says the understanding she gained from the digital health units was of practical value almost immediately.
“The course put words and evidence to those issues that I could then escalate in a really meaningful way, to executive members of the hospital for example, and offer my leadership skills and knowledge to move towards a more functional system,” she said.
The course has inspired her to take her studies further with a Graduate Diploma of Rural Nursing Practice, as well as fuelling a passionate advocacy for the value of her new career, and the need to increase understanding of its challenges.
“Patients aren’t just in rural areas, they go back and forth to metro areas,” she says.
“What happens when a nurse or a doctor in a hospital in Melbourne has a rural patient, and they need to come back for a follow-up appointment, or need to go for a referral?
“That might be well and good for somebody who’s in Melbourne. But what if someone is in a rural community? Maybe they’re elderly? Maybe they’ve got chronic illnesses? What are the barriers in place? Maybe they can’t drive? Maybe they rely on people in their community, maybe they rely on a bush nursing service to organise community transport to get them to appointments? Maybe it’s harder for them to get their medications?”
“It really is important for every nurse to get an understanding of the barriers there are for patients, other healthcare workers, and the healthcare system in general, in regional and remote areas.”
“If you’re going to work in these rural communities, this course is also going to give you a really good focus for deepening your skills.”
Lucinda’s dedication to supporting the health needs of her local community has recently been recognised with a grant from Violet Vines Marshman Centre, which will fund a project addressing social isolation and mental health in the rural Lockington community.
“I want people to understand what we do, to understand that there’s more than hospital or general practice when it comes to nursing careers.”
“There are so many things that nurses can do.”
Find out more about the Professional Certificate of Rural Nursing Practice course here.
