Stawell nurse upskills for Operating Theatre

Stawell registered nurse Shakira Jansen has bolstered her skill base recently thanks to a Grampians Health initiative that upskills novice practitioners in the perioperative field.

Since starting the program, Shakira has attended six education sessions at Grampians Health’s Ballarat campus. The sessions have increased her knowledge base and given her the chance to network with fellow novices from around the region while learning in a new environment.

The program has also provided Shakira with supernumerary shifts working in operating theatres at the Ballarat campus. This has allowed her to consolidate her learning from the education days as well as experiencing different surgical/anaesthetic procedures and techniques.

At the end of the program Shakira presented a case study on a patient she observed while in Ballarat and was able to incorporate the knowledge that she had learnt from the past six months.

Stawell perioperative Clinical Nurse Educator Michelle Dunn said Shakira was one of many success stories for the campus from their graduate nurse program.

“Shakira completed a six-month rotation in the perioperative department during her graduate year before completing her year on the general ward at Stawell,” Michelle said.

“At the completion of her graduate program, Shakira was successful in gaining a permanent position in our department and has been with us for the past two and a half years.

“A program such as the Novice has enabled Shakira to grow and develop her knowledge and skills in the perioperative department and is a stepping stone towards completing a post graduate degree.”

Shakira said the novice program had given her a unique chance to further her knowledge.

“It’s extra training in the perioperative environment to increase my confidence,” she said.

“I’ve got a lot out of the program because there is so much more that they do in Ballarat that we don’t get to here. It’s been great to see bigger procedures and watch how they do things there.

“Even with the study days we’ve had some company representative that have come down and they have been amazing with all the information they have to share.

“Even the other day we had an orthopaedic representative come in and show us orthopaedic trauma sets and things like that. It was really good because we don’t get to see that sort of thing at Stawell, so it’s been a great opportunity to expand my knowledge.”