Who Am I? – Get to know the Aussie Nurse Educator
Hey Friends, my name is Rory! Nice to meet you! Thanks again for stopping by and reading my blog.
I have been going on instagram now for almost 8 months and throughout that time, I have kept my face hidden, except for the logo. I have been wanting to show my face, get to know and interact with you all so today, I am going to share a bit about me.
The Aussie Nurse Educator
As you know, I am a Registered Nurse and the Aussie Nurse Educator on Instagram. A couple months after starting on instagram, I started this website. Welcome, please look around after reading this blog. The journey from the beginning to starting the website was a steep and fast road that I have immensely enjoyed. What has kept me constantly busy and working hard is creating the educational content for you all!
About me
Ok, so what about before I started the Aussie Nurse Educator? I was born in Lake Macquarie, just south of Newcastle. Since a young age, I was quite fond of sports and anything to do with water! From about 8 years old, I was training every day as a swimmer, amongst other things. By the time I was 13 years old, I was training multiple times a day as well as competing in still water swimming, ocean iron man and long distance open water swimming at a local, state and national level. For the next 5 years, I competed around Australia enjoying the athlete lifestyle, beautiful coastlines and being super fit! A few injuries later and with a passion for life and other goals, at the age of 18, I gave my competitive days (at that level) away.
Growing up
During year 11 and 12 at school, I had a beautiful girlfriend (who is now my wife!) and I worked at the local supermarket, as a surf instructor and as a swimming coach. Near the end of year 12, I had applied for university and also applied for a beach lifeguard position. As a requirement of my volunteer commitments from sport, I had been trained in CPR, first aid and various aquatic rescue techniques. When I found out I was successful in becoming a professional lifeguard, I completed more advanced pre-hospital care training, including advanced resuscitation, spinal management and aquatic rescue management. I worked on the beaches as a Lifeguard for 5 years and throughout this time I completed my University studies including my Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Newcastle, as well as completing my Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and Diploma in Vocation Education and Training.
Starting my first business…
During my aquatic rescue days, I fell in love with education and training. I completed the training (mentioned above) to be able to teach, assess, facilitate and mentor junior surf life savers and aspiring lifeguards. I did this for a number of years in a volunteer capacity at my local surf life saving club. After a few years I decided to start a business doing just that!
I started Hunter First Aid in early 2016. We started by providing mobile and classroom CPR and First Aid training, as well as aquatic rescue and lifeguard training. After a short while, we transitioned into providing mobile based training and now, after almost 6 years, I have tackled a rebrand of the business, Life Saving Education!. The new website is on its way! Our primary area of business now is providing mobile training for businesses. We provide courses for hospitals, health services, heavy industry, the department of education and more. If you are keen to follow or you do not work in a hospital and would like help maintaining your CPR/BLS then follow @lifesavingeducation on instagram and checkout the website here.
University studies
Nursing
I started my Bachelor of Nursing straight out of school and completed the degree full time, whilst living at home and working as a Beach Lifeguard and Swim Coach. I found the first year of the degree quite slow, until we began the in depth clinical skills! We only went to uni one day per week and the rest was learning from home. I really enjoyed the labs and placements. I graduated in 2014 and immediately started studying para-medicine.
Paramedics
I undertook my training in para-medicine to further my pre-hospital training and experience I had gained whilst lifeguarding. The study was via distance education with block schools. The study complemented my experience lifeguarding and working in the Emergency Department. Due to starting my business and the opportunities presented to me within nursing, I completed half of the training before moving onto anaesthetic training.
Specialisation
Following my new graduate year I fell in love with anaesthesia and began working in the area full time. I signed up and became a member of ACPAN who were coving University fees with the University of Tasmania entirely at this stage. I applied for and completed my speciality training in Peri Anaesthesia Nursing care which includes anaesthesia and recovery (PACU) nursing.
The New Graduate Year
I had the best new graduate year of all time! First of all, I was offered three out of the many new graduate positions I applied for. Two of these offers were in private, theatre specific programs and the other was with the public hospital system on a multi ward rotation. At the time, I thought this was one of the hardest decisions! I ended up choosing my local private hospital which offered me either a scrub/scout or anaesthetics/recovery program and I chose anaesthetics/recovery also known as peri-anaesthesia.
The private hospital I completed my program at had a newly built emergency department and a an ICU supporting its complex peri-operative services, including cardio-thoracic surgery. It was exactly the program that interested me and fit well with my previous experience. I had a great year, working the first 6 months in PACU and then moving into anaesthetics, before being offered a permanent position. This is where I progressed in my career and moved into cardiac surgery and trauma from the ED (and included on-call overnight and weekends). I had the time of my life working between the great departments and working with some awesome Doctors and Nurses as well as Wardsmen, Radiographers and more.
The time in between
Getting married
At the end of 2020 there was a short window of opportunity between COVID lockdowns where my then fiance and I could get away. My Fiancé and I travelled to the Blue Mountains, eloped and got married in a tree house! It was the most amazing and memorable experience of my life!
ADHD
I have always suffered from symptoms of ADHD, even as a child right up until now. I have always been open with my struggles and issues related to this and other than speaking with my GP, I had done nothing about it other than self help through education, awareness and mindfulness. Recently I started journalling and doing meditation to help with all areas of wellbeing and self care. I decided it was time to do something about it. I got my referral, was lucky enough to get a cancellation appointment and now, I have a formal diagnosis of ADHD and am beginning to gain even more understanding and control over my life. I am really passionate about advocating for mental health and being open about it, it is a part of life and more awareness and open discussion can help others.
What I do for fun
Swim – I love it!
Surf – absolutely love it!
Fly, well, I want to!
Family Time – spending time with my beautiful wife and English Staff, Sassy.
Interest in tech and web development – I have loved tech from a young age. I use and love my apple products including MacBook, iPad, Airpods and iPhone. My wife calls me an “Apple fan boy”.
What I do now
Anaesthetic CNS & Educator
I work in day surgery at a private hospital in Newcastle. I am the Anaesthetic Clinical Nurse Specialist and Educator and have worked there for about 4 years. I absolutely love working in anaesthetics and leading education, mentoring and assisting others to strive and achieve their goals, both professionally and personally.
Life Saving Education
As I mentioned above, we rebranded Hunter First Aid to Life Saving Education only this month. We are still working on the website! Life Saving Education provides mobile based CPR, First Aid, Aquatic Rescue, Fire and other training to businesses and workplaces. We are entering our 6th year of operating and are excited for our rebrand and fresh look! You can check us out and follow our journey – @lifesavingeducation on instagram and checkout the website here.
Get to know more and see my website – About me
If you haven’t already, head over to the about page and read more about the Aussie Nurse Educator.
Thank you for stopping by!