As part of its response to critical incidents around the state - be it floods, COVID or bushfires - NSW Health puts out calls for staff to be posted to areas that are the hardest hit.
Hear from registered nurse Samuel Liu who answered the call for help and joined NSW Health’s Deployment Program.
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“It was a little bit daunting at first, but in the end, it was one of the best decisions I made and it really fast-tracked my career a lot", reflected Sam.
Sam was sent to multiple rural areas that needed that extra support, including Deniliquin in the Riverina region of New South Wales.
“It was quite a remote area, you had to utilise your own critical thinking and resourcefulness to get patients treated accordingly. Just going into new environments and learning new skills, and new ways of doing things compared to metropolitan hospitals was a great experience. They called me City Boy in the beginning, and I loved being there helping the team.”
Sam adds that he settled in quite well to his rural surroundings, and not a moment too soon.
“In my last deployment for the floods, I was straight into it. Because I was already ED trained, I was the most experienced in terms of clinical skills available at the time, so they often had me in charge when managers were absent. I did have adequate support prior to that though, and there was always someone I could call for advice and assistance", Sam recalled.
The Sydney-based RN normally works in the Emergency Department at Auburn Hospital.
He has now taken on a new role as one of the after-hours clinical nurse educators for the new graduates coming through, a role he says he owes to the expertise he gained while on deployment.
"All the experience that I gained in such a short time means that as an RN Level 4 I was able to progress to a clinical nurse educator in a permanent role because of all the exposure I had.
I now have that higher level of critical thinking and time management, prioritisation, and I feel like without these deployment opportunities that probably would have taken a lot longer to get there.”
There are numerous benefits to packing your bags and going regional, including a reduced commute time as well as the adventure of a scenic lifestyle. Additionally, according to Sam, going bush can also be quite a lucrative venture.
“There is a great money incentive that comes with being on placements, and that is the deployment incidental allowance.".
"I got very well looked after by NSW Health. Everything was sorted for me, including flights, it really is well organised.”
