4 Corners Newsletter - Vol 3 - Central Queensland University

The future of the
profession
According to departing lecturer
and course coordinator, Loretto
Quinney, the profession of nursing
is at a watershed - and as yet it is
unclear how exactly it will all pan out.
“On the one hand, we are
looking at reduced numbers of
places for our graduates as preretirees
continue to work to boost
their superannuation. There just
hasn’t been the attrition in industry
to release places for graduates.
This will impact on our student
numbers in the near future.”
“On the other hand, ANMAC
warns us that in five to seven years,
there will be a significant shortfall
of Registered Nurses as the baby
boomers retire.”
Loretto believes the role of
the RN is about to undergo a
fundamental change and the role
of the EEN will be modified to fill
the gaps.
“Our challenge is to be prepared
for that and I think CQUni is doing
some great work in this respect.”
She has great confidence in
handing her profession over to
the next generation. “The badging
ceremony comes around soon and
as I look at the caliber of nurses
we have contributed to developing,
I think we have every right to be
proud.”
The demands of twenty-firstcentury
health care services
will continue to test the nursing
profession’s ability to maintain
high caliber care that meets
contemporary societal needs.
Historically, the nursing
profession has consistently
demonstrated its ability to adapt
to changing and varied health care
needs. It remains an exceedingly
popular and highly respected
profession that attracts large
numbers of new recruits to its
ranks. There is little doubt that
nursing will continue to maintain its
status as an extremely important
profession, serving the health
needs of the nation.
New horisons for Loretto
‘How do you eat an elephant? – one bite at a time.’ This adage rings true for
Loretto Quinney as she exchanges the Sunshine State for the Garden State.
Loretto grew up as part of a large family
on a wool property in the western district of
Victoria. From early childhood, surrounded
with plenty of fun, laughter and good food,
she always tries to see life as a positive
experience. “So much of whether you will
enjoy life is about your outlook and if you
are not happy, then you need to step up and
change it,” she said.
She went to school at the local college
in Camperdown and chose to start her
General Training at St. John of God Hospital
in Ballarat. She knew, however, that she
wanted to tackle something bigger and
after graduation went to Melbourne to
do Intensive Care/Coronary Care at the
Western Hospital.
“My first patient was ventilated,
had a Sengstaken-Blakemore,
peritoneal, dialysis, arterial line,
Swan Ganz and a CVC with a
Christmas tree of inotropes. I got
through the grand round, went
out to the loo and threw up. I was
so scared, but I kept going back
and stayed in critical care for the
next 8 years. It’s still how I identify
myself.”
Loretto went to the neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU) at the Royal Children’s Hospital
in Melbourne and then did Midwifery at the
Royal Women’s Hospital.
“I remember my first week in
Delivery Suite was in December
and all the medical students had
left for the holidays, so there was
no competition – I had 50 deliveries
in my first week and had to stop
counting or otherwise that would
not have let me back for my
second round”.
In the early 1990’s she moved back to
Ballarat as ADON (HR) and a few years later
took on a joint role managing Education
and Marketing. In 2010, Loretto moved
to Rockhampton with her husband after
working in Townsville in Midwifery, Critical
Care and Renal as well as teaching at TAFE.
Part of her motivation in life is the immense
energy she gets from teaching. She loves it
when she has the students in Residential and
they ask questions and make connections.
“My greatest buzz has been teaching
and watching the students develop
their knowledge base and extend their
reasoning,” she said.
Although Loretto has only been at
CQUniversity Rockhampton Campus for
three years, she has made quite an impact.
Shortly after starting at the Centre for
Professional Health Education in 2010, she
moved to the undergraduate program and
was appointed as the Course Coordinator for
Acute Nursing Management. The program
needed a review and with her background
and experience as a clinician, she was able
to bring currency to the re-write.
Loretto strongly believes that you need
mentors and was lucky enough to have
several – each with their own area of
expertise. “Working in academia has many
opportunities and facets that you need to
program an attack so you don’t become
overwhelmed or start to work in ever
decreasing circles,” she said.
With the guidance of Maude Chapman
who gave her a sound platform to start from
and who was around in the initial months,
Loretto got her head around the course and
the task at hand.
She worked with Sandra Walker who
gave her the learning opportunity to
understand how to map assessments and
structure the course so that the broad set of
learning objectives were embedded in every
activity.
Working in a clinical course helped her
to gain an overview of the program and
understand the nexus between practicum
and theory and to see how each phase of
the program was built and scaffold onto the
next. It also gave her a chance to identify the
gaps and contribute to providing solutions
for these. The teaching team working with
her, Sandy McLellan, Penny Heidke and
Virginia Howie all contributed significantly to
the rewarding aspect of having the course
be successful and achieve the learning
outcomes and KPIs.
“This course is a fantastic course to
teach and coordinate as students are really
keen to learn about ‘real’ nursing and often
see the course as being the nuts and bolts
of their chosen career,” she said.
She also teaches in Critical Care and
Advanced Physical Assessment.
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