News Archive

These are the stories of two of the first intake of students for the Master of Nursing Science degree at UWA.

Simon Roebuck

I graduated from UWA with a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education and a Graduate Diploma in Education at the end of 1998 and headed for Albany and a small school catering for all years up to Year 10. I returned to Perth in 2001 to fill in as an outdoor education specialist on a senior (Year 10-12) campus in Churchlands. In 2002, I began a three-year contract with a non-profit organisation, coordinating their vacation camping program for primary and high school-aged children.

In 2005, my wife, Karli, and I spent 10 months travelling through Canada before returning to Perth where I completed a Certificate IV in Fitness. I then took on a position as a course coach at the Australian Institute of Fitness. I began a personal training business based in Claremont in October 2006 and soon began to toy with the possibility of pursuing a Masters degree in motor learning and control.

In November 2007, my wife and I were blessed with the birth of our beautiful little boy, Oliver. In July 2008, our world changed when Oliver was diagnosed with cancer. Our world began to revolve around Princess Margaret Hospital. We began to interact with a large number of different medical personnel as well as parents and children coping with cancer.

As Oliver’s very successful treatment approached its end in July 2009, I again began to consider further study. My focus shifted from human movement and I felt that I had something to offer as a nurse within paediatric oncology but was not keen on returning to an undergraduate degree and had a preference for returning to UWA if I was to continue my studies. I came across the Master of Nursing Science and the rest, as they say, is history. Oliver had his final dose of chemotherapy on July 1 and the Master of Nursing Science commenced with its first class on July 20.

It hasn’t been easy to study while trying to fit in the responsibilities of being a husband and father and running a business. It’s a significantly different experience from my undergraduate years. I have discovered that nursing is a complex career to choose and I have found that I have enjoyed juggling the mix of skills required to provide a level of care I would be happy to receive.

My first practical experience at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital was supported by enthusiastic and friendly ward staff and while our scope of practice was quite limited, it was an important opportunity to practise the softer skills of nursing. I am looking forward to the coming months, tackling more complex situations, working in a wider range of practice areas, and ultimately using my experiences and training to provide the care my clients need.

Shannon Hampton

My first degree was a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Tourism Management.

After finishing my first degree I went on a year long working holiday in Ireland and Scotland. I returned to Perth to start my tourism career but unfortunately this was near the time of the September 11 attacks and finding a tourism job was a nightmare.

I moved into Visitor Servicing roles with CALM (now Department of Environment and Conservation) and worked as a Visitor Centre Manager at Purnululu National Park (Bungle-Bungles) and Shark Bay.

I then moved into recruitment and human resources roles for a couple of years before deciding to return to study nursing. When I was working in HR, I helped out the Occupational Health and Safety team and worked as a first aider in one of my jobs. This is probably what led me to do nursing as I liked dealing with pre-employment medicals and safety issues more than the recruitment side of the role.

Studying nursing has been a very intense experience for me. Some good, some bad experiences but it is always interesting and unlike anything I have ever done before. I think the clinical experience at Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital has been the best part of the course as it has allowed me to really experience what it is like to be a nurse. When I started with my practical experience, I felt quite useless but by the end I felt like I could help out the nurses with some of the more basic but time-consuming jobs like showering patients and feeding dependent patients.

I am 30 years old and going back to being a student has been a massive change. I am learning to survive on very little money again (baked beans for me!) and have moved into a share house which has been great. I like the fact that I am learning so many new things.

When I graduate, I would like to move into emergency or sexual health areas. Once I am experienced, I would like to do overseas work for a while, possibly working in Papua New Guinea or overseas aid work.