First Gympie alumni event highlights career options

More than 20 Nursing Science graduates and students have attended USC Gympie’s first alumni event.

Presented by USC’s Nursing and Midwifery Alumni Network, the information evening on 1 August highlighted career stepping stones for final-year students and graduates of USC Gympie.

USC Alumni Relations Manager Anita Edmonds said it was an opportunity for graduate nurses and nurse educators to share with current USC Gympie students their experiences and advice for transitioning into practice.

Cooinda Aged Care CEO Robyn Kross and representatives from USC Careers also provided insights into preparing graduate resumes and how to stand out from the crowd when applying for nursing positions.

“The event also offered graduates interested in changing career pathways the chance to hear about different nursing and midwifery options, including mental health, palliative and aged care specialties,” she said.

USC Gympie, which opened in 2013, celebrated the graduation of its first cohort of Nursing Science students in 2016.

Among the Gympie graduates who attended last week’s Alumni event was Amanda Keldoulis, who received the Chancellor’s Medal – USC’s highest academic honour for a graduating student – when she graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Science last year.

Ms Keldoulis said it was a valuable opportunity to reconnect with USC and provide advice and encouragement for current students as they approached the end of their study programs.

“I could recognise and relate to where they are at the moment,” said Ms Keldoulis, who is working as a graduate nurse in the Medical Assessment Planning Unit at Nambour General Hospital.

“As a graduate, attending an Alumni event like this was also a great opportunity to see the different pathways people have taken, stay in touch with other like-minded people, bounce ideas and share insights,” she said.