Senior Contracted Registered Nurse for the Australian Defence Force Bronwyn Hastie has a renewed passion for nursing since upgrading her phlebotomy skills through Mater’s Certificate III in Pathology.

Currently working at the Gallipoli Army Barracks in Enoggera, Bronwyn is responsible for ensuring the army base’s population maintains high standards of health and fitness in order to be deployable at any given time.

Prior to taking the course, Bronwyn was feeling burnt out and lacking confidence in certain duties she was required to undertake, due to spending most of her career in a different specialty.

“I was really burnt out. I was working long hours and juggling a demanding career, small children and a partner in Defence who was constantly on deployment. It was a tough time and I thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore, I’m juggling too much and giving too much of myself’.”

Bronwyn was inspired to upskill at Mater as a way to focus more on the area of nursing she had always enjoyed—phlebotomy—and to achieve more work-life balance.

“Every time I put my feelers out and said to anyone that I was thinking of gaining more skills in phlebotomy, I received feedback that Mater had the best course. That opinion was unanimous—everyone from my GP to my colleagues recommended Mater. So I chose Mater, based on its great reputation,” Bronwyn said.

“My skills and knowledge have grown enormously since completing the course, which in turn has made me more confident both while I am collecting specimens and also while mentoring junior nursing and Defence medical staff.

“Mater’s Certificate III course and the expert mentoring and patience of Mater’s teachers has allowed me to fully realise and remember why I became a nurse 15 years ago. It has granted me a path forward after a year of being exhausted and losing faith in my profession and skills. For that, I am deeply grateful.”

Bronwyn said the organisation of the course and the positive learning environment made all the difference to her success.

“The organisation of the course was impeccable. It was easy to follow and the teachers were amazing—they always had time for you, in person or after hours via email. The course was appropriate for people of all different backgrounds and skill levels, not just those coming from a medical background, allowing you to take the learning as far as you wanted,” she said.

“I found the learning environment at Mater was super positive. Everyone wanted to be there and everybody was enthusiastic and engaged. There was a really high level of maturity and I felt supported by teachers and fellow students alike.”

Since completing the course and upgrading her skills, Bronwyn been designated the Infection Control Supervisor in her workplace and is now able to focus more on areas of work she is most interested in, thanks to the new skills she has gained.

“To people considering taking this course, I would say 100 per cent to do it. I highly recommend it. I’ve completed several courses since graduating my Bachelor of Nursing and none of them have been as well organised as this particular course. I would absolutely advocate it; it’s a really great course,” she said.

“I’m grateful to my lecturers for sharing their passion and knowledge of phlebotomy so generously. Thank you Mater for an outstanding course.”