Yeppoon's Rebecca Clarke will soon join a contingent of CQUniversity Nursing and Midwifery students in a remote community in Nepal, where they will lend a hand at a local hospital, rural health camps and outreach clinics...

The trip in late November and December has been coordinated via Antipodeans Abroad and forms part of the students' curriculum.

Rebecca Clarke

Rebecca has been looking forward to the opportunity to help people in a developing nation who have limited access to advanced healthcare services and facilities.

"Their situation is in stark contrast to the healthcare available to us in Australia and will require better use of our personal skills and the available provisions to deliver effective health services," she says.

"I believe this clinical experience, as well as the interactions we will have with the community and culture in the Nepalese villages, will allow me to develop both personally and professionally.

"The group has been raising funds and resources from local businesses and organisations and we plan to distribute these as well as our own resources in the local communities, primarily through the sponsorship of children, medical supplies and upgrading of school buildings and furniture.

"Apart from the opportunity to participate in such a valuable learning experience, one of my main motivations for joining the Nepal trip is that I love travelling and experiencing new cultures. I have travelled through Europe, Great Britain and Ireland, as well as Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, and Thailand, with many more nations on the list for the future."

Rebecca says that, as a child, she was 'petrified' of needles and would faint at the sight of blood, "so you can imagine my family's amusement at the career I have chosen and the tasks I often perform during clinical placements".

"Like many other students, I often simultaneously juggle full-time study, clinical placements, part-time employment, as well as my home life and social life. However I prioritise my successful completion of the Nursing program as paramount, which often means sacrifices in other areas of my life."

After leaving high school, Rebecca worked in several administrative roles before deciding on her career direction.

"In my two years of study in the Bachelor of Nursing program I have experienced student placements in a nursing home, a surgical ward, a community health clinic, and now will be travelling to Nepal with a group of CQUniversity students from all over Australia," she says.

"Over the three weeks, the group will be providing services in Fish Tail Hospital, attending lectures, attending rural health camps, interacting with local villagers, visiting a leprosy clinic and maternity hospital, as well as sight-seeing and exploring the region."

Rebecca says her favourite aspects of the Nursing program include learning and practical development of medical skills, along with the patient contact which can span from debilitating injury or illness through the procedural and rehabilitation stages to recovery.

"A career in Nursing also provides the opportunity to work in a variety of environments with diverse clients and presenting issues all within the one profession.

"Upon completion of my degree I plan to seek employment in a surgical ward, maternity ward, or emergency department, and would also be interested in undertaking postgraduate study."