SWADDLING newborns at the city’s hospital or nurturing aspiring nurses in a university setting are all in a day’s work for nursing and midwifery professional Tanya Connell.
The academic and practising midwife has recently moved to the Mount Gambier district to take up a prominent role at the University of South Australia’s School of Nursing and Midwifery.
Dr Connell – a highly credentialed and experienced university academic – will be tasked with teaching the midwifery and nursing students at the Mount Gambier campus.
Moving from fast-paced Sydney, Dr Connell said she was thrilled to make the Blue Lake city her home and described the facilities at the UniSA Mount Gambier learning centre as first class.
In fact, she is blown away with the cutting-edge training facilities at the Mount Gambier campus given they are located in a regional setting.
“The resources in Mount Gambier are amazing. I have worked in seven different universities and I have never seen a clinical lab like here,” Dr Connell told The Border Watch.
“This lab is based on what students will see in the South Australian hospital system – no other university does that.
“It is a state-of-the-art facility – it is unbelievable. Students are much better prepared and we have really high retention rates.”
Dr Connell believed it was important to continue working as a midwife and nurse simultaneously with her academic career.
“I have made sure I have maintained my practice and I am working at the Mount Gambier Hospital every second weekend to keep up with my skills and to remain current,” Dr Connell told The Border Watch.
Moreover, she revealed she wanted to continue to forge links with the health facility given it was a teaching ground for students.
“I absolutely love midwifery and nursing – I have done both for 25 years,” she explained.
With a masters in adult education and a teaching background stemming back to 2004, Dr Connell said she loved being in the university setting and helping students reach their goals.
“The Mount Gambier campus has 26 first year nursing students along with seven midwifery students, which is the most we have had here,” the health professional said.
It is also the first time there has been an academic on campus who is a midwife.
“I am able to teach midwifery students components of that course, which is great for students. There will now be more onsite teaching,” Dr Connell said.
Nursing is among the most popular courses at the Mount Gambier campus and consists of around one third of the overall student population.
The nursing/midwifery courses are also important avenue to attract and retain nurses in the region.
“We would like to grow the midwifery course as much as possible – we are really trying to encourage people to do midwifery,” Dr Connell said.
She said there was a shortfall of practising midwives “locally”.
Although only being in Mount Gambier for six weeks, she said she loved its picturesque landscape and family friendly lifestyle.
“I like the fact it is a large regional city and I can live on a farm just 10 minutes from work,” Dr Connell added.
Dr Connell said she understood how difficult it could be to be a mother as well as study and work.
“I want anybody out there who wants to do nursing or midwifery to know they can manage it and we have excellent resources at this university – it is very nurturing environment and fantastic resources,” she added.
Dr Connell revealed age was no barrier to starting a person’s educational journey.
“We have students in their sixties on campus at the moment. Nursing and midwifery are extremely rewarding careers.”
The midwifery and nurses courses can be delivered full time, part time or off campus.
“You can also switch between full time and part time – it is very flexible.”
