Rockhampton's Rebecca Lapthorne attributes her decision to pursue a career in nursing to her recent experiences when her 'baby brother' was dying of cancer.

Now enrolled in a nursing degree program at Central Queensland University, Rebecca keeps photos of her brother Adam close to hand as a reminder of why she is striving to succeed.

That extra drive and determination may certainly be needed, as Rebecca has four children aged under six and has to do most of her study after the kids are in bed at night.

The new nursing student recently had the chance to chat about her experiences with Health Minister and former radiographer Wendy Edmond (pictured), who was visiting CQU.

She has also recorded her thoughts about her chosen career move: "Why have I chosen nursing as my career? The answer is simply because I am needed. There is so much that is happening around the world today, that you need only to turn on the television to be confronted with the many atrocities affecting human health today. Indeed, the media in general has played a significant role in influencing my chosen career. But if I were to place the total blame on this mass source than it would truly be inaccurate.

"In 2000, I sat watching as my younger brother, Adam, lay dying of secondaries developed from Testicular Cancer. He wasn't meant to die. He was young and strong and this type of cancer was supposed to respond well to treatment. Nevertheless, as I watched my 'baby' brother struggle with his attempts to capture a breath, I wondered only one question, "Why?" Why did our family doctor not diagnose him earlier? Why did his once strong body refuse to obey his obvious will to survive? Why cancer and how? I felt devastated, and scared. More than that was the incredible sense of grief and hopelessness I felt at not knowing what to do as I struggled with the inevitability of Adam passing.

"I prayed. I sang. I called him 'sweetie' and 'honey' and comforted him when others in my family were unable to cope. I wiped the sweat from his brow and collected the continual flow of bloody mucous from his mouth. It hurt to see him like that, it hurts even now three years later. I will never get over the initial shock of seeing him like that, of not able to communicate with him because of the large amounts o morphine and pain relief he had been given.

"This alone, influenced my choice of career more than anything else. I want to do all I can to prevent or at least provide comfort to those afflicted by cancer and disease - by pain. I know I cannot save the world, and it would be foolish of me to even think I could, but perhaps my small contribution, as a nurse, will lessen another's pain. This is my motivation for success. I want to give nursing my best, because in some ways I'm doing this for Adam, for the life he lived and lost."