Nursing pathway provides bright future

Danielle Taylor grew up on a farm just outside of Horsham. The 28-year-old is mother to three boys, and has a busy life in a small town, Glenorchy, where she now has a small farm of her own.

Danielle has recently completed a Certificate III in Individual Support with Federation TAFE, with hopes of going on to study a Diploma of Nursing as part of the free TAFE program.

Danielle feels that completing the pathway course before applying for the Diploma has set her up for success.

“Having a pathway course has allowed me to gain a better grasp and understanding I believe the career itself is quite complex and you require those steppingstones to get a full understanding of the environment rather than diving straight into the unknown.”

Between the responsibilities of raising three children and the commitment to study and work has been a juggling act.

“There have been lots of hurdles along the way, but I have pushed through and stayed positive. I have had some great support through fellow classmates and a great role model,” Danielle said.

Coming from a background of varying skills including hairdressing, hospitality, education and childcare, Danielle has accumulated a love for working with people.

“It has always been in me to do more and be more, always setting a challenge for myself and increasing the knowledge and skills I have obtained to a higher level in my career,” she said.

“I began looking further into new career paths and opportunities using the skills and knowledge obtained through previous positions as they bring great value to the health care sector.”

The Certificate III provided Danielle with a chance to branch off what she had learnt in her past roles, building on her fascination with how the body operates and how this impacts each individual person.

While undertaking the course, Danielle was a trainee at the East Grampians Health Services.

“My traineeship taught me patience, how to recognise signs of issues with patients and that we are all human and we all need help at some point and time in our life. One day it will be one of us in the place of the elderly today,” she said.

“I believe there is a shortage in workers for healthcare, the team who currently exist in the healthcare system do a great job with what they have but increasing the number of workers would help immensely to the health care system.”

To read more about pathways to the Diploma of Nursing please visit https://study.federation.edu.au/course/DLBQ