Patricia ‘Sister Pat’ McPherson was one of the first graduates of La Trobe’s Master of Nursing in the late 1980s.
“In 1987 I was a 50-year-old, triple-certified career nurse," Pat says. "I had spent ten years developing grassroots community nursing services in the Kimberley in Western Australia, followed by another decade with the Royal District Nursing Service in Melbourne.”
“When La Trobe’s master’s degree came along, I was more than ready for it."
Despite this, Pat remembers her postgraduate studies as a challenging time.
“Back then, we had to complete 12 units of study and a minor thesis – all while holding down a full-time nursing job. It was a very difficult and isolating period in my life and, sometimes, a great struggle.”
Pat’s first assignment involved writing a 3000-word essay on hermeneutic phenomenology, a theory that seeks to understand the human experience as it is lived and transmitted through language
“At the time, I didn’t really understand the concept. Writing a 3000-word essay was beyond me until I woke up in the middle of the night with a light bulb moment – write it in first person!”
“I had previously been involved in putting together a diabetic teaching program, so I made myself a diabetic and wrote of my lived experience in the first person as I went through each stage of the disease, from diagnosis to independent living. I ‘lived’ the theory of hermeneutic phenomenology on the page, which broke every rule of assignment writing.”
Pat’s unorthodox approach paid off, and her essay was published in the Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing.
“I also received messages from a couple of nurse educators who told me how this approach had helped them help their students grasp these difficult concepts,” she says.
After graduating, Pat continued her work with the Royal District Nursing Service as a Policy and Planning Officer. Here, she played an instrumental role in redeveloping policies and procedures to meet new Australian Health Care Standards.
“In this role, I drew from the knowledge I had gained during my university studies. I kept on top of federal and state legislation, regulations, and developments relating to health, community care, and aged care.”
“I also wrote numerous position papers and submissions, for which those Master’s assignments held me in good stead!”
In 1998, Pat travelled to Tuvalu, a small island-country in the South Pacific, to assist in the development of a primary health care plan.
“This work was directly related to my master's thesis, which was about the World Health Organisation’s goal for every individual to have access to primary health care.”
“We spent two weeks in Tuvalu running workshops for health professionals from each of the nine atoll communities, and together we created a primary health care plan that was suited to the needs of the island nation.”
In 2001, as part of Australia’s Centenary of Federation celebrations, Pat was included in the inaugural Victorian Honour Role of Women – Women Shaping the Nation, in recognition of her enduring contribution to public health.
Looking back, Pat says that while her master's degree may have been challenging, it was also transformative.
“The introduction of the Master of Nursing was really the next step in the professionalisation of nursing as it continued its transition from its blue-collar hospital training base to academic education.”
“It really helped me. Health and politics go together, and my studies helped me bridge that gap between health and policy.”
