Catholic Diocese of Broome

By Sally Clark, Assistant Dean, School of Nursing

When I was asked the other day how long I had been working at the University of Notre Dame, I replied “6 years”. Actually, it is closer to 9 years. My response gave me an opportunity to reflect on my time here and really brought home to me the commitment and high expectations of the team that I work with in the University. My home for the past 25 years has been the North West of Western Australia. I have nursed in a variety of clinical areas as well as different towns and, with my husband, have grown a family up along the way. So you could say I am used to
diversity. I am also not averse to a challenge. It is the challenges in life, I find, that give us the best opportunity for growth; especially if we have motivation and the support of family and friends.

Gaining further education for me has always been one of those challenges. However, right from the outset, I decided I wanted to complete my Bachelor of Nursing, become a child health nurse, a midwife and in my spare time a women’s health nurse. Nothing wrong with setting your sights high! I did eventually realise my goals, although it took many years and a lot of time away from home, family and friends.

The expectations that we have of ourselves are what should guide us to our achievements; not the expectations of others. Indigenous soprano, Deborah Cheetham, stated at the 2009 Nulungu Reconciliation Lecture, “I believe that if you change expectations you can change outcomes”. This lecture certainly gave me food for thought and the topic still resonates today. Whilst expectations are what can drive us to achieve, or hold us back, we need the opportunity to achieve our goals. Opportunity for appropriate and relevant education is often a challenge to people living away from metropolitan areas and the Kimberley is no exception.
The School of Nursing, Broome Campus is committed to the reconciliation process by being active in Closing the Gap to Indigenous disadvantage. We do this by making a considered effort to increase opportunities through the accessibility and availability of all our health and nursing courses and through our involvement in the Australian Nurse Family Partnership Program (ANFPP). ANFPP is a national program
funded by the Federal government in an effort to close the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The School of Nursing works within a Support Service to co-ordinate and provide training for Nurses and Family Partnership Workers who are commencing work in this intensive home visiting program for Indigenous families.

The School of Nursing has been offering the opportunity for education through a Diploma of Nursing course, using a ‘virtual classroom’ focusing on positive feelings and good educational outcomes for students. Students come to the Campus for a limited number of study ‘Blocks’ where they meet other students and practise
clinical skills in the Nursing Laboratory.

At one such recent ‘Block’, the School acknowledged International Nurses Day with a combined blessing for students new to our courses or going on their first clinical placement. This gathering of over 50 students, from a number of health and nursing courses, living in a variety of places throughout the North West of Western Australia, certainly gave us the opportunity to celebrate the School’s achievements. The positive feedback and discussion that took place, confirmed the plans and
expectations of the School of Nursing to provide educational opportunities for those not wanting to move to the city.