New Nursing and Midwifery Graduate Ellen Cox takes ‘keeping it in the family’ to a whole new level.
‘Both my parents worked in healthcare – my mum was a nurse who was trained in every speciality you can think of, and did midwifery as a postgraduate, while my dad was an emergency nurse trained in ICU and coronary care,’ she said.
Now, Ellen has joined the family ranks and has officially started her own healthcare journey as a dual Nursing and Midwifery graduate at Monash Health.
‘I couldn’t pick between the two, and my mum told me to ‘just do it’ when I was deciding whether to do a double degree or not,’ she said.
‘My mum told me a bunch of different stories about her time as a midwife, and I was kind of sold after that.’
The flexibility being qualified in two disciplines would give her was also a large deciding factor in Ellen’s decision to pursue both disciplines.
From this week, she’s started on a birth suite midwifery rotation at Dandenong Hospital, completing a further birth suite rotation and maternity ward rotation before swapping over to nursing for the remainder of the year.
‘For my nursing rotation, I’ll be working in the special care nursery at Casey Hospital,’ Ellen said.
‘I applied for that specialty because I really enjoyed my experience as a student in special care, which I did with Monash Health at Sandringham Hospital.
‘I loved the routine and family orientated care, so to be able to land that rotation, I was ecstatic and over the moon!’
During her time as a student, Ellen also had placement as a student in a maternity ward at Casey Hospital during COVID-19.
‘At that time, a lot of the women couldn’t have visitors, so to experience that emotional vulnerability was sometimes really hard,’ she said.
‘A really big focus for me as a healthcare worker is to be able to provide a space for people to lean on me.’
It was during her lunch breaks, when she would sit with one of her patients who had been completely immobilised after requiring an emergency c –section, that something just ‘clicked’ for Ellen.
‘Seeing these women experiencing one of the most special times of their lives alone, it clicked that I am more than just a person that looks after people – I am helping take care of them both emotionally and mentally,’ she said.
Regardless of where the future takes her, Ellen said she sees herself always doing a bit of both.
‘I’m really into family centred care-based roles, I love working with babies and their families and I will probably go and learn about some other specialities in the future – the ED is something I’d love to dip my toes into eventually!’ she said.
For Ellen, the most beautiful aspect of nursing and midwifery is experiencing human connection with vulnerability.
‘Whether it’s general nursing, aged care, maternity or a birth suite, you’re a part of someone’s life – maybe not for a long time, but the impact you can have as a healthcare worker can be immense,’ she said.
The Monash Health Graduate Program provides newly registered Nurses and Midwives with diverse opportunities to consolidate their skills, expand their experience in a professional setting and grow their career with Victoria’s largest healthcare provider.