Bass Coast Health (BCH) is supporting nurses at the early stages of their careers by appointing a team of novice workforce clinical development nurses as part of its learning and development team.

Among them is Liam Kennedy, who mentors nurses in their first three years of practice.

“My role is to support graduate nurses on the ward and also nurses undertaking their second year of practice, known as our Pathway to Practice program,” he said.

“I’ll go on the ward and catch-up with the nurses to chat about their patients and to see if they need supervision with a procedure. I’m here to be a sounding board and to reassure them.

“It’s most rewarding seeing the graduate nurses advance from being nervous in their first job and then developing over time.”

Prior to his current role, Mr Kennedy worked on Acute Ward at Wonthaggi Hospital for 12 months and continues to work casually with that team. He came to BCH from Austin Health in Melbourne after he moved to the Bass Coast for a “tree change”.

“Nursing is a very rewarding career path because you get to see someone progress from being unwell to getting better,” he said.