New nurse charts career
Ready to start her journey as a registered nurse, Lauren Baguley was cheered on by the family that inspired her at CQUniversity’s recent Townsville Graduation Ceremony.
After her grandmother suffered a stroke in Lauren’s mid-teens, she said the impact that warm and compassionate nurses had on her family helped her to realise it was the profession for her.
“My grandmother was left with significant deficits requiring her to be placed in a nursing home,” Lauren explained.
“Watching the healthcare staff assist her with her personal hygiene and meals really inspired me to choose a career that helps others, while watching the process of her medical rehabilitation really fostered my fascination for learning about the human body and pathophysiology.”
While Lauren has successfully secured a graduate nursing position in an Intensive Care Unit, she is also passionate about furthering her studies with plans to establish a career in gerontology.
“I have dreams of revolutionising the way we care for the elderly so that they can have a positive quality of life and continue to have dignity at all stages of life.
“I hope to continue to study a Master of Gerontology where I can a focus of dementia and acute delirium, furthermore, a positive quality of life and having dignity when dying,” she said.
“Further into my career, I hope to work in a frailty intervention outreach team, providing acute care to the elderly in their home environment.
“I would also like to undertake research about the best models of caring for people living with dementia in acute care and residential aged care facilities and implement these models of care within these environments.”
She credited her positive experiences at CQU for fueling her passion for academia and the support needed to excel in her studies.
Lauren graduated from her Bachelor of Nursing with Distinction and was given the honour of presenting the student address at the Townsville ceremony.
“A highlight of my university experience was having stimulating conversations with nursing staff about contemporary nursing issues, external to the curriculum topics.
“During these conversations, the staff members made me feel like one of their peers with how engaged they were with me and the insight I had to contribute,” she explained.
“Initially I began my studies at another university but transferred to CQU after I relocated to a remote cattle property. The CQU ethos aligns with bridging the gap in allow regional and remote living people the opportunity to receive quality education."
Lauren said she was also fortunate enough to receive CQUni Cares Connellan Airways Trust Scholarship which provided her with financial assistance to study from a remote location.
“These funds assisted me with purchasing an internet plan, so I was able to access my studies from home,” Lauren said.
“It can be very difficult to navigate your studies whilst supporting yourself financially, particularly while undergoing unpaid placement. Placement itself is very challenging as you are experiencing very unique and difficult situations for the first time as a future healthcare professional.
“Despite these challenges I have always enjoyed the university experience and wanted to share my passion for learning and external opportunities with others.”
Lauren was one of more than 40 nursing graduates at the CQU Townsville Graduation Ceremony which consisted of both Diploma of Nursing and Bachelor of Nursing graduates.
