The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is investing in its future by offering scholarships to Registered Nurses who have a desire and passion to work for the Service but do not have one of its mandatory qualifications, most commonly midwifery.
In the past, Registered Nurses would progress on to study midwifery as part of their hospital placements and would be qualified in both general nursing and in midwifery. Today, midwifery training is a separate course and attracts additional fees in the vicinity of $12,000.
The RFDS Post-Registration Scholarship covers the financial cost of undertaking the desired course and guarantees the recipient a position as a flight nurse with the RFDS upon completion. Up to eight scholarships are awarded across the country every year.
For 2007 scholarship recipient, Jackie Jones, the scholarship removed the ‘financial hurdle’ of gaining the additional qualifications required by the RFDS.
"I was working as a nurse on an island in Queensland when I was bitten by a snake and had to be airlifted to hospital. The retrieval team that assisted me was amazing – I thought they were heroes, and it was there and then that I decided I was going to work for the RFDS," Jackie says.
"I went back to University to obtain my post-grad in critical care.
After completing the course I still needed to obtain midwifery but was not in a financial position to pay for my next course," she says.
Jackie often scanned the RFDS website looking at flight nurse positions and one day saw information about a post-registration scholarship and applied immediately.
"It was a dream of mine to work for the RFDS and when I received the phone call advising I had been successful and would receive the scholarship, I was so excited."
On completion of the course Jackie began working as a flight nurse with the RFDS. Part of the scholarship requirements are that the RFDS will nominate which base the recipient will work at. At the time there was a need for additional staff in Alice Springs and Jackie started her new life in the bush early last year.
One 2008 scholarship recipient, Craig Samels, from Adelaide, started with the RFDS in March this year as a Flight Nurse at the RFDS Port Augusta Base.
"My friends moved from working in hospitals to becoming flight nurses with the RFDS, and they constantly told me how much they loved their job.
"Now that I am in the job, I can say it is not what I thought it would be, it is much more! It is different, challenging and I get to work autonomously and as part of a team. I use all my various skills and in no other job can you get such diversity, every day is different and I love it," he says.
