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Nursing Science student is a real high-flyer
Studying at the University of the Sunshine Coast has given wings to the career aspirations of final-year Nursing Science student Christine Pointon.
Ms Pointon, 41 of Buderim, recently completed a two-week placement with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) based in Bundaberg and servicing the Queensland outback.
“It was awesome,” she said. “It was such a privilege to get a placement like this with an Australian icon.
“The aircraft was a Beachcraft King Air twin-prop and there was generally a flight nurse and a pilot on board.
“I worked under the direct supervision of the flight nurse, and the patients were usually ICU (intensive care), coronary care or neo-natal.
“We flew to places like Cunnamulla, St George, Charleville, Warwick, Emerald and Rockhampton. Most of the transports were to Brisbane, especially coronary care or obstetrics.
Ms Pointon said it was interesting to observe how the crew balanced health and aviation safety concerns at all times, carefully considering the possible effects of pressurised air on patients’ conditions or injuries.
“For the most part, the patients came on board in a stable condition. We would do a clinical assessment after receiving a handover from the ambulance officers. Then, after landing, we would do a handover again with the ambulance.
“For this, you need to have very good communication skills – verbal as well as written – along with all the clinical skills that I’ve learned and practised in the labs at USC.
Ms Pointon, who also did placements at hospitals in Bowen and Nambour as part of her degree, said studying Nursing Science at USC was part of her 10-year goal to join the RFDS.
“To be a flight nurse, you must be a registered nurse and a midwife, and you need to have intensive care and emergency trauma experience,” she said.
“I plan to work locally as a nurse to get my foundation general nursing skills and to continue studying midwifery and advanced practice at USC.”
Ms Pointon recently became the inaugural recipient of the Joy Croker Centaur Memorial Silver Medal for Academic Excellence by a Nursing Student at USC.
This was presented by Dr Deborah Prior of the Centaur Memorial Fund for Nurses at USC’s Semester 2 scholarships, bursaries and awards presentation ceremony on Friday 14 October.
“It was a surprise to be nominated for this medal,” Ms Pointon said. “But as both my grandfathers served in World War Two, I am very proud to receive this award in memory of the nurses who died when the Centaur was torpedoed off Caloundra.
“I never would have thought in a million years that all these wonderful things would happen to me when I started my University journey.”
— Terry Walsh