The scholarship fund is a game-changer
As a teaching hospital, St Vincent’s is focused on nurturing the future leaders of medicine by providing an optimal learning experience that combines on-the-job training, supervision and mentoring.
The nursing education programs are a continuing demonstration of the organisation's mission and values. Nurses are offered a diverse range of educational opportunities, from undergraduate students and graduate nurses to nurses completing postgraduate studies in their clinical area.
The establishment of the St Vincent’s Nursing Scholarship Fund means the Education and Learning teams now have the ability to open up new career pathways for nurses.
How your support has changed a nurse’s life
Allison has already seen the impact the Nursing Scholarship Fund has had on a nurse experiencing financial hardship.
“We had a staff member who couldn’t afford to pay their university fees. This meant they would have had to withdraw and everything they had done up until that point academically would have been null and void.”
It doesn’t take much to send someone into financial distress. The sudden increased cost of living, mortgage or rent payments and costs of raising a family can easily push a staff member to their financial limit. Something had to give, and it was going to be their study.
“It was an extremely stressful time for this talented nurse who was excelling at their studies. We are thrilled that the Fund has been established to be able to provide the support they needed.
“This emergency assistance would not have been possible without your generous contributions to the Scholarship Fund. On behalf of the nurse who was helped, thank you. This support meant the world to them. They will be forever grateful.” Allison said.
Carolyn Grear, St Vincent’s Private Hospital Melbourne Acting Education Manager, said the Fund has meant the team has seen an increase in staff opting to do their post-graduate studies.
“This Fund has been a game-changer. Private Hospital nurses can’t access government support. We are finally able to support staff to do essential study.
“What’s also pleasing is that we’re seeing more diversity in the uptake of post graduate in a broader range of disciplines, for example in orthopaedics. This is an important speciality so we’re keen for our nurses to upskill in this area. Oncology, haematology and cardiac are also seeing an uptake.
“The Fund is enabling staff who may not have been able to afford to do further study to fulfill their dream to learn and grow,” Carolyn said.
St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne does receive some government funding to support staff in undertaking post-graduate studies. However, Postgraduate Coordinator, Allison Mawson, said there is never enough money to financially support all the applicants.
“In the past, public hospitals have been provided scholarship funds from the Department of Health to allocate to both post graduate nurses and nurse practitioners. It was nowhere near enough money to ever provide a full scholarship, let alone to cover all the staff who wished to undertake further studies.”
This year, the Department of Health has listed just a few clinical specialties who are guaranteed to receive financial support to undertake their post graduate studies – intensive care, emergency, oncology, aged care and midwifery. The government simply can’t cover all nurses who want to study. So, for nurses who work in all the other specialties, it is not guaranteed that their study will be financially supported via a scholarship.
Donate to the nursing scholarships today
“The generous donors who have provided money to create the Fund, means many more nurses can realise their goal to upskill. It means we can plan for the future and support many more staff,” Allison said.
Carolyn believes that when you know better, you do better. By nurturing enquiring minds, nurses gain an increased passion for in their work. Greater knowledge means improved patient outcomes.
“We’re incredible grateful for this initiative. Education is key. I feel heartened that people have generously donated to support nurses. It shows us just how much nurses are valued and appreciated. This really is quite humbling.”
