Twenty-six year old Alice Atyeo was announced
Mater’s 2009 Graduate Nurse of the Year
at the Mater Clinical Teaching and Learning
Awards held in October last year, she is also the
graduate representative on the Nursing and
Midwifery Alumni Council.
Originally from South Australia,
Alice has called Brisbane home for
the past 10 years. It was during her
time working in administration for a
community nursing agency that she
was inspired to study nursing.
“I loved interacting with the
patients and wanted to be more
involved in this side of health care
rather than taking care of paperwork,”
Alice said.
She completed her Bachelor
of Nursing at Australian Catholic
University participating in a three year
practical placement at Mater Private
Hospital Brisbane.
“I began working at Mater Private
Hospital as an Assistant in Nursing
(AIN) after completing my first
clinical placement. My wonderful
facilitator knew I had really enjoyed
my placement and encouraged me
to apply for a job. I was very excited
to begin my nursing career at Mater.
I learnt so much working as an AIN
during my study and had many
experienced nurses teaching and
guiding me.”
After completing her degree, Alice
undertook her graduate year at Mater
Adult Hospital.
“I am currently working on Ward
10B which is the Oncology ward in Mater Adult Hospital.
It can be a really
challenging area to
work in but I love it; I
get the opportunity to
work more intimately
with patients and their
families in ways you
just don’t get in other
areas of nursing, and
I work within a fabulous
and supportive
nursing team!”
This year, Alice
joined Mater Nursing
and Midwifery
Alumni Council.
“I have come
to realise just how
beneficial the alumni can be to junior
nurses and as a graduate nurse
representative I hope to be able to
promote the alumni activities and
membership to other Mater graduate
nurses,” Alice said.
“Mater is a unique organisation
with a long and rich history in health
care in Brisbane. As part of the Nursing
and Midwifery Alumni, past, present
and even future nurses can celebrate
their part in Mater’s story.
“The alumni offers opportunities
to meet other nurses and midwives from a range of clinical areas and
backgrounds at a variety of social
events which include race days, trivia
nights and the annual alumni dinner
just to name a few. The alumni also
supports the professional development
of its members at Mater and actively
supports past and present nurses alike.
“I really enjoyed my graduate year
of nursing at Mater and sharing many
experiences with my fellow graduate
nurses was truly memorable. Through
the alumni, I can stay in contact with
them even if their future careers take
them away from Mater.”