From bedpans and books to the red centre
Rebecca Gaston is an honours student from the School of Nursing and Midwifery.
From bedpans and books to the red centre
You know the stories of those students who as well as doing uni juggle work sport and community involvement, well we met one! Introducing Rebecca Gaston, an honours student from the School of Nursing and Midwifery.
Rebecca is en route to the Northern Territory. She is one of the 12 students chosen from 250 applications to participate in the National Rural Heath Students Network Annual NT Rural High School Visit.
The purpose of the trip is to visit several schools across the Northern Territory and talk to students about working in the health profession and studying at UoN. Rebecca will talk about working as a nurse, she’s currently working part time at the Hunter Valley Private Hospital; her research, Rebecca currently studying her honours; and the support services available at Uni. Rebecca will also guest appear on Radio School of the Air, a station dedicated to providing teaching to kids living in remote and regional Australia.
“I’ve never been to remote or rural outback Australia, said Rebecca.
“If I can inspire these students to do something different it will be really rewarding”.
UoN will be well represented on the NT trip with Rebecca being joined by Stephen Langley, a second year physiotherapy student.
Rebecca’s honours project looks at the uneven growth in the role of nurses in the Australian primary healthcare environment as the focus of delivery in rural and remote areas has shifted from doctors to nurses in an effort to reduce healthcare costs, alleviate doctor shortage and workload and continuing to provide quality healthcare. Her project aims to explore and compare the current role of nurses in remote, rural and metro primary healthcare in Australia. Specifically the provision of health consultation, lifestyle advice and clinical assessment (like Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Blood Sugar Levels and Skin assessment) by nurses among the middle aged cohort of women (59-64 years) from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health (Survey 6). Rebecca hopes that after completion of her honours she will one-day go on to attain her PhD.
As well as work, study and trips to the outback Rebecca plays soccer for Newcastle Uni, is a member of BREAATHHE and a SOS Mentor. We’re certainly impressed!
