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Member Stories
A selection of stories from our CRANApulse magazine written by remote health professionals or students during their clinical placement
Occupational therapy in the Red Centre
Jordyn Iovino reflects on her clinical placement with Desert Therapy in Alice Springs and discusses how she has grown as a professional through increased cultural awareness.
Supporting farmers in remote Gippsland, Victoria
The Victorian Government announced funding for a Bush Nursing Pilot project this June. We catch up with Sarah Carr from Dargo Bush Nursing Centre to find out how the project is being implemented and…
Providing good preconception and antenatal care in rural and remote
Judy Burke has been working as the women’s and maternal health coordinator at Katherine West Health Board for the past two years.
Meet Deputy National Rural Health Commissioner, Adjunct Prof. Shelley Nowlan
Primary healthcare, women’s health, rural nursing, rural midwifery, and shining a light on nursing in the bush are key priorities set by the new Deputy National Rural Health Commissioner.
Vaccination – speak up loudly, reasonably and often
The awards just keep coming for Professor Sabina Knight, a key player in the creation of the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia (CRANA) back in 1983, the organisation that led to CRANAplus in…
From Cairns with love
Developing skills in the general medical ward and during home visits and experiencing Cairns by pushbike made this clinical placement away from her kids worthwhile for Nicola Dolan – and allowed her…
Health at great heights
Third-year nursing student Sarah Horn took to the air during her clinical placement at RFDS’ Meekatharra base. Despite the challenges of working at altitude and in intense heat, learning cultural and…
A welcome change of pace
Maigan Marrocco headed to Lake Grace in south-west WA to undertake her stage three nursing placement, with the financial assistance of a CRANAplus sponsored Undergraduate Remote Placement…
Fellow in focus: learning how to listen
Cross-cultural nursing, and certainly Remote Area Nursing (RAN), were basically unheard of in Australia when Registered Nurse Toni Dowd began practising in the late 1970s.
Facilitator spotlight: following in family footsteps
Catch up with Keppel Schafer, CRANAplus Facilitator since 2011. Keppel followed his grandmother’s steps into healthcare and is passionate about the transition from paper-based to digital…
You don’t know what you don’t know
Nurse Practitioner Lynette Byers, now in her third term on the CRANAplus Board, has seen many changes in the past nine years. Here she talks about her passion for education.
Turning up at the coal face
Each edition of the magazine, we talk to a Fellow of CRANAplus, people who work tirelessly in their roles in rural and remote health and who we have recognised for their efforts. This month we…
A dream come true — eventually
CRANAplus facilitator Kathy Arthurs always wanted to be a nurse and to work for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). She studied nursing straight from school, in the days of hospital training. But…
My favourite placement
Physiotherapy graduate Georgina Haire discovered a silver lining when her final placement was interrupted by COVID-19 restrictions last year. Here’s her story.
Smitten by life in Esperance
Verity Lee, who studied at Edith Cowan University in Bunbury Western Australia, says her six-week placement in Esperance in WA was the perfect way to complete her Registered Nursing degree. Here’s…
Wonders and hurdles of rural midwifery
Mathilda (Tilley) Wilson, who completed her Bachelor of Midwifery at Charles Darwin University last year, summarises her final placement.
Prepared to talk
Senior Mental Health Clinician, Sophie Heathcote, was in the first batch of Fellows of CRANAplus announced at the organisation’s conference in 2011. She has a long history with the organisation:…
The right direction for Emma
A chance meeting at a bus stop catapulted new CRANAplus Board member Emma Barritt from the world of academia into life as a remote area nurse in Indigenous communities in Outback Australia.
A priceless experience
Mental health nursing student Gabrielle Wilton recently travelled to Nhulunbuy and Groote Eylandt in East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory
for her remote placement experience. Here’s her story.
Remote experience will open your eyes
Occupational Therapy student Natasha Clegg had no idea what to expect when she undertook a remote placement. Having completed it, she now believes everyone attaining an allied health degree should…
The Esperance experience
Emily Bean feels fortunate that she completed her nursing degree with a placement in Esperance in Western Australia. Here she outlines all the reasons why.
An experience to cherish
Occupational therapy student Elyse Krsanac at Curtin University says her placement at Alice Springs Hospital earlier this year “was easily the most rewarding experience of my life so far”.
Scholarships a financial boost during placements
The CRANAplus scholarships are a great boost to help relieve financial stress for recipients undergoing their placements says fnursing student Elise Thornwaite who is studying a Bachelor of Nursing…
Walking side by side
Decision time came 45 years ago for Nurse Practitioner Stephen Farrington when he met a young boy sitting with an old man carving a boomerang at Uluru. That decision was to spend his working life in…
Keeping Birthing on Country in the spotlight
Sue Kruske and Sue Kildea, midwives and leading university educators based in Alice Springs, are passionate about building knowledge of, and expanding services for Birthing on Country.
Having a whale of a time in the Great South West
CEO of Heywood Rural Health, Jackie Kelly swaps big city living for life on the beach.
In love with Alice
After completing a student placement in Central Australia, Registered Nurse Melissa Godden has returned to the Northern Territory to undertake a Graduate Nurse Program at Alice Springs Hospital. She…
Prepared for the challenges
A nursing background in trauma management, and working for 16 years in a remote hospital in his home land, Zimbabwe, prepared Freedom Zulu well for the challenges of working in Pormpuraaw Primary…
Play together, stay together
Mutton birding, Reiki healing and golf: these are just three of the varied activities on truwana/Cape Barren Island that are helping the locals follow their motto of “the community that plays…
First taste of remote nursing: from ICU to Ali Curung
Self-exposed ‘quintessential city slicker’ Charlotte Sumskas, a Critical Care Registered Nurse, recently went bush for a remote clinical placement. These are her thoughts, penned in the midst of her…
Maningrida to Manhattan
Registered Nurse Sue Ellen Kovack left her nomadic lifestyle as a remote area nurse in Australia for the Big Apple in November 2016. As she says, she went “from one extreme (in so many ways), to…
Barefoot Initiative — Lexi Keneally
We first met Lexi Keneally and family back in the March/Autumn 2013 Magazine. Here she catches us up on the amazing work being done by the Barefoot Initiative on the International stage.
A Paramedic Intern in the Northern Territory – A Personal Experience
‘Do you want a job as a paramedic in Darwin?’... ‘Yes please! Where do I sign?’ A few weeks after travelling to Darwin for an intensive 2-day interview process, Trent Ramsay received the above call…
Step out of your comfort zone
Being a student is the perfect time for stepping out of your comfort zone and taking new opportunities, says third year nursing student Lilly Sideris.
Multiple positive experiences in Indigenous Health
Indigenous health has always been a passion for Katarina Samotna, a 3rd Year Bachelor of Nursing student at Charles Darwin University. And her recent placement in the remote Indigenous communities of…
Anyone for an e‑Cuppa?
Marcia, Katrina and Leanne shared an ‘e-cuppa’ on Skype celebrating 12 months with the CRANAplus LINKS mentoring program.
Dental Student on Wheels
Traveling in the purpose-built dental van to provide services in aged care facilities in the Port Macquarie region was a highlight for Jessica Zachar, a Final Year Dentistry Student at Charles Sturt…
Cake to Cape
Four medical students from Dundee Scotland recently completed a fortnight’s placement in the remote Aboriginal community of Napranum on Cape York peninsula, 800kms north of Cairns.
Flexibility proves key on clinical placement
Connie Hierl, a 3rd year Bachelor of Nursing student at Griffith University in Southport, has discovered firsthand how nurses working in remote areas need to be flexible in an ever-changing…
Revelations at One Arm Point
3rd Year Bachelor of Nursing Student at Uni SA, Rory McGrath-Swan shares his story of 'a great opportunity'. A stint at One Arm Point, about 200 kilometres north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula,…
Flying high and delving deep
Dianne Few shares insights into the diverse roles and locations that working as a remote area nurse has to offer.
What I would have missed
Ever considered going Remote? CRANAplus Member, Pam Wade felt the need for a sea-change. See her short story here.
Clinical skills pushed to the limits
For Angela Ramsay and Ely Taylor, two students from Canberra whose clinical nursing experience to date was bound to hospitals, “going remote” was both eye-opening and refreshing.
“Going South” to Antarctica
Dr Lloyd Fletcher, who spent 12 months in Antarctica as the Dr on Australia’s Davis Station, says he would recommend the experience of “going south” to anyone.
Palpable respect and pride
Libby Bowell, Director of Education for CRANAplus, says that the recent Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander (ATSI) health worker course in Cairns “pretty much confirms that my goal for the last…
Living the dream
A love for tiny little towns, isolated islands and the Aussie outback! Nancy has a passion for public health and improving living standards for those in far-flung corners of the world.