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Hi, my name is Aimee and I have transitioned from singer/DJ to RN over the last 4 years! My partner Stu and I have survived a pandemic, built our first home and together we have raised a beautiful 5-year-old daughter named Peyton. I am a passionate Disney mum, I do sing-a-longs every morning with my daughter which has effectively prepared me for a life-long career in paediatric/neonatal nursing! I’m also a big Marvel fan, love all things Harry Potter and am happily avoiding the fact that I am turning 30 next year (eek!)
Can you share the pivotal moment or experience that led you to transition from a music career to nursing?
It was funny, prior to having my daughter I felt like I was needing a change in career and wasn’t feeling as passionate or fulfilled where I was at the time. After having my daughter, despite the traumatic and challenges we faced from it, the care we received was nothing less than remarkable. We met and became close with so many nurses and medical teams, I was inspired to see such a fulfilling career and felt an immediate desire to change into nursing!
You’ve described your NICU journey with your daughter as an inspiration for your career change. Could you tell us more about this experience and how it influenced your decision to become a nurse?
The experience in the NICU was best described as a rollercoaster! We experienced highs, lows and everything in between but the support we received was incredible. No matter the days we had, we received compassionate and family centred care. Everyday we felt confident in the teams that would advocate for our daughter and for us as well, they were inclusive and always found effective ways to support us and other families. Seeing this style of care and knowing there was a way that I could use my personal experience to provide support to other families experiencing similar and challenging journeys just spoke to me. Once the desire was there, there was no fighting it and my partner made sure I signed myself up!
Balancing nursing school with raising your daughter, building your first home, and enduring a pandemic is quite an accomplishment. What strategies or mindset helped you manage all these responsibilities effectively?
It has absolutely felt like a marathon, to look back on it all now I definitely do feel a sense of accomplishment that we made it work. Some strategies I have suggested to others in similar situations, or even nursing students just feeling a bit overloaded, is to lean on your support networks as much as you can. Especially when you have kids, as they say, it takes a village and my village isn’t very big but they help in very big ways so I’m very thankful for that.
Another strategy I suggest is planning ahead, I’m a very passionate planner! I made an Excel spreadsheet and shared it with my partner and family so they knew what days I was working, when I had assignments and when I needed help with looking after my daughter. It also helped them see just how much I had going on, which I think people can struggle to comprehend if you’re not a nursing student! Another strategy, and I suggest this strongly, is utilising support networks that are available. I’ve worked for Monash Health as a RUSON for nearly 2 years and I’ve utilised the Employee Assistance Program that is available and found it extremely beneficial.
Mindset-wise, I’ve been told I have a very strong and determined mindset but I think it’s important to increase your self-awareness to understand your cup. Everyone’s cup fills differently and at different speeds, certain events and stress loads can affect everyone differently so it’s important to take a step back and visualise your cup and find strategies that will help you re-build your resilience and prevent your cup from ‘spilling’.
Can you walk us through your four-year journey through nursing school, including part-time and full-time periods?
As my daughter was only one when I first began my studies, I had friends who had previously studied the degree suggest to me to split the first year over 2 years and study part-time. As I was nearly 10 years out of high school (eek!), this was the best advice I ever had, especially not having any science or health background.
So I studied part-time in 2020 & 2021, and then merged to full time in 2022 and 2023. This was the path that worked best for my and my family and as much as it feels like it was a long 4 years, it worked really well.
Role as RUSON: You have experience as a RUSON at Monash Casey SCN and Monash Children’s PICU. How has this role contributed to your growth as a nurse?
I’ve been very lucky to work as a RUSON in both PICU, Special Care Nursery and other paediatric wards. It’s been an extremely beneficial exposure for me to see how the nurses and medical teams work together in various settings. While the scope was limited, it contributed to my growth as a nurse as I was able to engage with and provide family centred care through de-escalation and consoling young children and babies. I’ve been privileged to interact with and provide support to families during really stressful periods such as their child’s admission to PICU. I’ve also been able to work alongside some amazing senior nursing staff, the work and care they provide is very inspiring! Working as a RUSON amongst these various paediatric/neonatal areas has been a fulfilling experience and formative exposure to prepare me for my graduate year!
What aspects of nursing, especially in neonatal care and paediatric intensive care, do you find most fulfilling or challenging?
Some of the aspects I find most fulfilling is providing emotional support to the families of children or babies admitted to the hospital. It’s amazing to see how resilient some families are, but it’s extremely fulfilling to provide emotional support to mothers and fathers who have struggled with the admission. Providing personal experience to families has helped me connect with them on a deeper level. Other aspects are seeing these children and babies thrive, grow and beat their illnesses and go home healthy and strong.
Working in the PICU has been amazing exposure, however, there has been many challenging experiences where children or babies have been very sick and not been able to recover. Experiencing these events and watching the families go through this has been extremely challenging, especially as a mother. It doesn’t stop me from wanting to work with children but it can be the hardest aspect.
Having navigated through both part-time and full-time nursing studies, what tips would you offer to students looking to succeed in their academic journey?
Absolutely utilise the support around you! I was always in the library, utilising the librarians to assist with research strategies. Most universities will provide support for academic writing and even peer mentor programs. I failed my first essay and was absolutely horrified, but it forced me to use the support teams and programs available! This also helped me to sign up for peer support programs where in my second year, I helped first year nursing students in their clinical learning environment (CLE’s) classes. I found teaching the content helped me understand the content too. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, there are no silly questions! Be an information seeker and lean on your peers, create study groups and revision sessions together.
As a mature-aged student, what advice would you give to others who are considering a career change to nursing?
You are NEVER TOO OLD to change careers! Never, ever! This was one of the thoughts I had before signing up for university study again, but I cannot emphasise enough how many mature aged students there are and having life experience actually helps you with your studies and helps you to become a well-rounded nurse.
Changing a career to nursing will be hard work, but it will be extremely fulfilling. Nursing is not for the faint-hearted and requires compassion, empathy and dedication. It is (from all the nurses I’ve spoken to and worked with) one of the most amazing and flexible careers and a career I chose not only for myself but for my family.
If you are thinking about changing careers into nursing, I say 100% absolutely do it! You’ve got this!
Could you share a memorable or rewarding moment from your journey as a student nurse?
I actually just had my last class for uni, and just reaching this moment was very surreal. To know I’ve passed and make it through 4 years of study is an incredibly humbling feeling!
Some other rewarding experiences I’ve had is supporting and helping teach first-year nursing students in the CLE’s, I’ve had so many wonderful engagements with paediatric and neonatal patients, one of my favourites was where I was able to chat about harry potter for an hour to help a boy feel supported and less scared in hospital while he was in hospital. Another was when I helped a mother who was struggling with expressing and breastfeeding due to the stress of having her baby in hospital, I shared my experience with her and provided her with compassionate support, and reminded her there is no judgement in what path she chooses to feed her baby. Reminding her how strong she is and what an amazing job she was doing, even just thinking about it makes me feel extremely fulfilled. Maybe I’ll add midwifery to my plans for further study, who knows! But providing care to women, fathers and their children is the greatest privilege I can hope to experience. I am so looking forward to doing this in my graduate year next year!
Thank you for reading and all the best with your nursing studies – you are absolutely capable and will be a GREAT nurse!
