Wenjuan is from Shenzhen, a buzzing metropolis on the coast of China. She travelled to Australia to study a Master of Nursing at the University of Newcastle, graduating in June 2020.

For a long time, she wanted to study a master’s degree so she began exploring her options. She looked into courses in China but felt that the degrees offered took too long to complete and were not to the same quality as what was on offer overseas. Researching different courses, she found that the University of Newcastle was ranked 36th in the world for nursing and that it’s IELTS requirement was 6.5 - the highest of the schools on her shortlist.

She chose to live on campus to get a deeper sense of what University life is like. She made a lot of friends and met a lot of teachers with high academic attainments, whom she found to be very friendly and approachable.

She felt that the Master’s degree gave Wenjuan a unique perspective on the future of nursing. Her time abroad broadened her career potential and improved her English skills dramatically. She notes that her time overseas also made her more efficient, self-disciplined and resilient.

“It is like a child’s upbringing”, Wenjuan said. “It changes you slowly, but over time it’s a really big change.”

Although it was difficult to leave Australia, back at home Wenjuan was offered a lot of opportunities and now works at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital.

Unlike most clinical nurses, her responsibilities include clinical research, evidence-based problem solving, educating staff, and liaising with English speaking patients.

“My current job is varied and challenging and lets me explore the limits of my competency,” Wenjuan said.

In the future, Wenjuan hopes to become an excellent clinical research nurse. She plans to use science to support the development of nursing as a discipline and work on improving nursing policies to support the development of the industry.

A person standing on a table holding a coffee in front of a University of Newcastle logo printed on a building `

Wenjuan Sun

Wenjuan felt that the Master’s degree gave a unique perspective on the future of nursing.

My current job is varied and challenging and lets me explore the limits of my competency.