11 Jan First Nations High School Student Careers Day
In collaboration with the Clarence Health Service and University of Wollongong Clarence Valley regional Training Hub, we hosted a health careers day for 27 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students and staff from Grafton High School, South Grafton High School, Clarence Valley Anglican School and McCauley Catholic College.
The students participated in a range of clinical skills stations supported by CHS staff to learn about different skills relating to nursing, midwifery, medicine, Aboriginal health and physiotherapy. Staff from the valley’s Aboriginal Medical Service, Bulgarr Ngaru, also came to support the event and talk to students about how they support the community.
Some students were a little surprised by how realistic the mannequins were; they didn’t expect them to cough, blink their eyes and have chest movement! The students all enjoyed the SIM which took them through a trauma scenario relating to a farm accident, where they learned to plaster a back slab, monitor vital signs, detec abnormalities, basic life support and use the ultrasound machine to map the veins and arteries of their arm.
Grafton Base Hospital medical staff specialists, junior doctors, education staff, Aboriginal health staff, UOW medical students and GBH nurses all donated their time to run the clinical skills stations and talk to the students about their own health roles. Wonderful feedback was received from each school saying how engaging and valuable the day was for the students and staff involved.
A huge thank you to everyone involved and we look forward to hosting similar days in 2023!
