St Vincent's Nurses Alumni

The Alumni was originally established by Ida O’Dwyer in 1923. It continues to collaborate with St Vincent’s Hospital to develop and sustain connections among past nurses, present nurse employees and adjunct members to:

  • pursue activities that foster nursing excellence including sponsoring scholarships to advance education and practice; facilitate mentoring relationships; and support nursing research
  • provide social opportunities to foster friendships and networks with a focus on support for past and present nurse employees experiencing disadvantage
  • promote recruitment opportunities to past, present and potential future nurse employees
  • contribute to the St Vincent’s Hospital archives
  • promote the philosophy and values of Mary Aikenhead Ministries and the Mission of St Vincent’s Hospital
  • to raise funds to support Alumni projects and activities highlighted above.

With members from near and far, the Alumni offers friendship, professional networking and opportunities to contribute to advancing nursing leadership and practice at St Vincent’s.

Events and activities

The SVNA High Afternoon Tea was  held at the Windsor Hotel, 111 Spring St, Melbourne on Friday 23 May 2025 . See the President’s message for further information about this event.

Keep these dates free for important events!

Watch this space and your emails for further updates. The 2025 SVNA Annual Luncheon will be held at the Park Hyatt, 1 Parliament Square Off, Parliament Place Melbourne, on Friday 29 August. This event:

  • Enables social connections for nurses past and present, and their family and friends
  • Provides a forum to hold reunions
  • Contributes to SVNA fund raising activities
  • Provides opportunities to have fun with friends and colleagues.

Further advice will be provided to members when tickets become available in late June/early July. Please consider participating with family, friends and colleagues or a gathering place for your next reunion.

Keep the Evening Free!

The SVNA Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 10 September, 6pm in the Healy Wing St Vincent’s Hospital, 41 Victoria Pde Fitzroy. Please join us, you may also wish to nominate and join the Committee.

The SVNA Alumni Committee will continue to provide advice about upcoming events and items of interest to members. If you would like further information, please email stvsnursesalumni@gmail.com.  

 You are encouraged to join the Alumni to receive these updates.

The Nursing Excellence Awards ceremony was held at St Vincent’s on Monday 12 May. Two award winners are profiled here. Congratulations. These awards are sponsored by the SVNA.

Graduate Nurse of the Year – Alex White, Registered Nurse, Emergency Department 

Alex

Alex demonstrates outstanding dedication and commitment to St Vincent's, delivering exceptional patient care on 8 West and the Emergency Department.

Those who work with Alex say that she embodies the hospital's core values of excellence, compassion, justice and integrity.

Alex consistently demonstrates strong leadership qualities by mentoring nursing students and supporting colleagues.

She also actively contributed to the 2025 Graduate Program recruitment campaign and ACN nursing expo.

Postgraduate Nurse of the Year–Bernie Chan, Registered Nurse, 7 West

Jackie

Bernie advocates fiercely for equitable care, ensuring all patients receive the attention, dignity, and resources they deserve.

She is sensitive to marginalised patients, promoting inclusive, culturally safe care that creates a calm and supportive environment.

Bernie supports colleagues, mentors junior staff, and contributes to service improvement initiatives. Her compassion, pursuit of lifelong learning, and commitment to justice embody the values of excellence and integrity.

Reunions

Reunions provide a precious opportunity to catch up with friends and former colleagues, to share stories and network.

When organising events, including celebratory reunions consider booking tables at the SVNA High Tea or annual luncheon. Please email the St Vincent's Nurses Alumni Committee at stvsnursesalumni@gmail.com for further information. 

Fundraising

The Alumni raises funds to pursue activities that foster nursing excellence and leadership including sponsoring scholarships to advance education, practice, and support nursing research. There is no registration fee for Alumni membership.

The Alumni relies entirely on fundraising and donations.

Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. If you wish to make a financial contribution to support the Alumni’s work please complete the template below. It is important that you reference the donation to SVNA when you lodge the form.

Annually the Alumni is committed currently to providing:

  • $10,000 for Post Graduate scholarships
  • $1,000 for the Ida O’Dwyer Award.

Please consider supporting the Alumni in any way you can. With your support the Alumni can expand its work in advancing nursing leadership and practice.

Additionally, in 2024 an award was established to support an Indigenous undergraduate from a rural, remote, or regional area undertaking their Bachelor's nursing course at Australian Catholic University Melbourne or Ballarat Campus. The successful student will be allocated a grant of $2,000 per year for three years.

It is your support that enables the Alumni to undertake such important initiatives that will make a positive difference to community members' lives. Please consider supporting the Alumni in any way you can. With you support the Alumni can expand its work in advancing nursing leadership and practice, and supporting nurses past and present.

President's message

Dear Colleagues

Welcome! These chilly mornings remind me of the difficulties I had being on time for early shifts in winter!

I would like to thank those that joined us for the Windsor afternoon tea held on Friday  23 May 2025. It was a great success for the 50 colleagues who attended. This was our last afternoon tea to be held at the Windsor. It is time to further consider activities and events that appeal to our wider membership including colleagues working at St Vincent’s.

I encourage you to give us feedback on ideas for events and activities the Alumni could hold into the future. Please provide any suggestions you have through email to stvsnursesalumni@gmail.comThank you to Adjunct Professor Jacqui Bilo for extending an invitation to me to participate in the Nursing Excellence Awards held on International Nurses Day May 12, 2025. Kathryn Lamb attended on my behalf. Kathryn appreciated the opportunity to witness the nursing leadership at this event underpinned by the Mission of Mary Aikenhead. I congratulate all award winners. It is only with your financial support that award sponsorship is possible.

. I encourage you to consider getting a table at the SVNA luncheon to be held at the Grand Hyatt on Friday, 29 August 2025. It provides an opportunity to have fun, connect and enable the SVNA to continue its support of nurses working at St Vincent’s. I look forward to seeing you there.

With gratitude and best wishes 
Nusia Krolikowski
President 


image_67232769 (1)Nusia

One profession, many pathways

In early 2025, the SVNA Committee   introduced a new feature titled One Profession, Many Pathways. This section  now documents diverse pathways, opportunities and experiences of nurses who are/or have been associated with St Vincent’s Hospital. The Committee would love to hear from you, to share your experiences with Alumni Members. Feedback is also welcome. 

Please send reflections of your professional journey to date to stvsnursesalumni@gmail.com

The Alumni Committee is pleased and proud to advise that two nurses working at St Vincent’s have agreed share their stories with you. The SVNA Committee thanks Kim Choate, Pain Management Nurse Practitioner, Department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine; and Deeanne Hams, Acting Nurse Unit Manager Emergency Department for allowing us to share their respective profressional journeys. Thank you both also for leading the charge in providing insight their journeys of enabling and excelling.

INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY CELEBRATION AT ST VINCENT’S HOSPITAL

12 MAY 2025

Key Note Presentation 

Kim Choate, Pain Management Nurse Practitioner, Department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine

Kim_photo v1 (3)

“Thank you Jacqui for inviting me to speak today, 36 years in nursing! When I say it out loud, it sounds like a long time!

Well it is a long time. The world has changed. Nursing has changed. Being asked to make this address has prompted me to reflect upon my career which started

at university through study for a Diploma of Applied Science (nursing). The transfer of nurse education from hospitals to higher education had only occurred a few years earlier. The

move had not been fully embraced by those that trained in a hospital based system and during clinical placements their hostility to the change made me feel isolated and

unwelcome. However, in retrospect, the move into the tertiary sector has been possibly the most significant change in the history of nursing in my lifetime.

Upon completion of my diploma, I began the graduate nurse program at The Royal Melbourne Hospital followed by work in various areas including orthopaedic and cardio-

thoracic nursing. From this solid clinical foundation I moved into Intensive Care and completed a Graduate Diploma, then began a long and fond association with The Alfred

Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. I spent more than a decade at the Alfred, transitioning from bedside nurse to Associate nurse manager then developing and working in the role of ICU

liaison nurse whilst completing a Masters in Clinical Nursing. I found myself at a crossroads after seven years as an ICU Liaison Nurse, and felt I needed a

fresh start. From the Alfred I took a position at St Vincent’s in 2008 as a PACU/Anaesthetic nurse. A year later I filled a relief position in the Acute Pain Service and have continued in

that role since that time. The Acute Pain Service is a small team, consisting of two nurses, a pain medicine registrar and an Anaesthetic consultant. We are a consultancy service that

cares for patients with complex pain following surgery or trauma. After having worked in the team for a while, I felt that there were gaps in the service. Frequently, I would be called to

review a patient without the presence of the medical team and I would waste time finding another doctor to chart medications or change an order. In these situations, I would

ultimately provide the advice and direction on how to manage the patient. I worked within this frustrating contradiction and began to consider how it may be resolved through nurse

practitioner endorsement. Fortuitously, a nursing colleague made me aware of the Victorian Nurse Practitioner Project Grants through the Department of Health. When I approached the Director of Anaesthesia,

Professor David Scott who was also the Head of the Australian New Zealand College of Anaesthetists at the time with my thoughts about the role - he was forward thinking,

supportive and encouraged me to “go for it.” My application for the grant was successful and I received further wholehearted support

from the Surgical Services Manager at the time Melissa Evans. My NP journey would not have started without St Vincent’s Hospital affording me the opportunity and material

support to explore this new role. To embark upon the path to being endorsed as a nurse practitioner is a long-term

commitment, the process took me almost three years. The two common pathways to NP involve study at master levels, either a Masters of NP or NP subjects to augment previous

Masters study. It’s a significant commitment which involves studying, clinical assessment with your mentor whilst working a day job. Once accepted into a candidacy role the time up

until endorsement is intense with an ongoing need to demonstrate one’s skill & knowledge. The process was arduous, however my medical mentor Dr Andrew Stewart was invaluable

during this period.

After all the time and effort, Did having a NP improve the acute pain service? I believe it certainly improved the timely way we are able to provide pain management for

patients after surgery. These days, I can take a referral and review a patient from any department within the hospital. My practice involves diagnosing the pain problem,

prescribing or deprescribing appropriate analgesics, planning medication regimes, also referring to other teams such Addiction Medicine, Psychiatry or the Chronic Pain Service.

In recent times, we care for many postoperative patients that additionally have a chronic pain diagnosis. Chronic pain affects 1 in 5 Australians over the age of 45 years. Patients with

chronic pain are more likely to be women, have other chronic health conditions, and stay in hospital longer. The impact of chronic pain can be far reaching and includes physical, social,

financial and psychological distress. A common referral to our service is the post operative surgical patient, often female,

between the age of 45-65, with chronic pain sometimes from a previous injury, or workplace accident. They may also have been diagnosed with depression, are very anxious and may

also have a panic disorder or PTSD. This patient cohort often take high doses of opioids and other pain reliving medication to manage their pain or they may have developed a substance

use disorder. Whilst inpatients, these people are often highly distressed, teary and catastrophic in thinking about pain. Their pain is very difficult to manage and it can be

challenging for the staff that care for these patients. To improve postoperative outcomes for this patient group evidence in pain literature described the emergence of subacute pain

clinics around the world. These clinics targeted complex pain patients to improve their postoperative pain experience and reduce the risk of harms associated with high doses of

opioid medications. Through discussion with my colleague Wendy McDonald, a clinical nurse consultant who works with me in the acute pain service, we came to recognise that as experienced pain

management nurses we had the clinical knowledge and background to provide a similar service. An Ann Cook Scholarship in 2019 provided me with the time to explore if a targeted, patient

specific preoperative review service was available in hospitals throughout Australia. The scholarship also provided the necessary time to discuss the idea and its composition with

the Department of Anaesthesia. The review and discussions culminated in the commencement of the Acute Pain Service Perioperative Pain Clinic at St Vincent’s Hospital in March 2021. The clinic is the first nurse-

led perioperative pain clinic in Australia. The clinic’s work encompasses review and consultation with patients before their surgery, provision of pain education, and discussion

of pain expectations after surgery with optimisation of the patient’s drug regime through change in their analgesic medications. The patients are also provided with strategies and

exercises on minimising their stress and anxiety. Importantly, we do what nurses do....we spend time listening to the patient’s pain story, developing rapport, connection and building trust so that when the patient with complex

pain emerges from their anaesthetic they see us ready to assist and able to reference our discussions and conversations. Patients are more likely to draw upon their resilience and

strength when they feel cared for, and listened to, and this can make a significant difference to their postoperative experience through lessening their anxiety and distress.

I am proud of my work as a Nurse Practitioner at St Vincent’s Melbourne through the strong clinical focus of my role, the opportunity to undertake research and involvement in

educating doctors, nurses and allied health professionals about pain management. I am not the only nurse practitioner. There are many of us working in different roles and

departments within the hospital and in the community that makes up the St Vincent’s health network. There are currently 17 nurse practitioners in a variety of roles including Aged Care,

Palliative Care, Emergency, Diabetes, Dual Disability, Renal and Addiction Medicine to name but only a few.

In 2024, there were 2900 endorsed Nurse Practitioners in Australia. The value of work performed by nurse practitioners is gaining greater recognition and is expanding. Any nurse wanting to become a clinical expert in their field, where a gap in a health service

exists or health care needs are inadequately provisioned for may have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills as a nurse practitioner in the future. I would encourage

anyone wanting to advance their scope of practice to consider a career trajectory that involves NP.”

Deanne (Dea) Hams, acting Nurse Unit Manager

Dea

Emergency Department

I've been nursing for 21 years. I did my graduate year in 2004 at St V's and then a rotational year in 2005 so I worked on 5W (where our very own Nat Green was my first preceptor), 9E, 7W, 8W and finished up in ED. I have worked agency and casual shifts across many hospitals, but have always maintained some hours at St V's. I have covered other roles for short periods of time but nothing has kept me interested long enough to move away from ED. I have been an ANUM since 2011, moved into the Deputy NUM role in 2023 and now am an acting NUM alongside Di. I have a husband who is a police officer, two children Archer 9 and Piper 7, and a poorly trained dog (schnoodle) named Odie.

Twenty years is not a long time in the grand scheme of things but I am now realising that some of the new grads may have only just been born when I was walking into my first day as a nurse! A few things have changed but the best things about nursing (in my humble opinion) have stayed the same.   My current role as acting NUM means days are often filled with work that at times feels very removed from clinical nursing: KPIs and budgets, patient complaints, Riskmans, HR issues and future planning for an ED with significant infrastructure challenges, but two things that have kept me in nursing also help me to focus on what is important - memorable patients and wonderful colleagues. 

There are patients who I've been involved in their care that I will never forget. Sometimes they have been the most critically unwell and clinically challenging with lots of technical nursing skills required, others are those that have required just the 'soft skills' of care and compassion, long conversations and cups of tea. I very clearly remember when working on 5W a young man who was coming to grips with a terminal diagnosis joining the nursing team for chats and coffee during our night shifts when he couldn't sleep. I love the feeling of relief and satisfaction after having been a part of a resuscitation team in ED and then hearing later that the patient has recovered well and left the hospital 'back to normal'.  ED nursing has allowed me the privilege of  being a part of teams who intervene to provide life saving resuscitation, and other times we have provided patients with dignified and caring end of life. I've even been present to welcome two babies into the world during surprise births in ED (one in a car in the AV bay so only just in ED!). 

The people I work with are the reason I have stayed in this job.  I am lucky to have worked many colleagues (not just nurses) who have inspired and encouraged me.  At work I've laughed until I've cried on many occasions, shared frustrations and fear, and felt grief and sadness - sometimes all in one shift, and it's the people around me that have made these experiences important.  The friends we make at work are sometimes the people that understand best why we do the things we do and feel the way we feel. Nobody gets into nursing for the money, but I still recommend it every time—because in my experience, the work is meaningful, and it’s the people you work with who make it truly rewarding.

The IND theme for 2025, "Our Nurses, Our Future: Caring for Nurses Strengthens Economies," highlights my responsibility as a leader and manager to focus on strengthening the future of the nursing profession and ensuring that nursing remains a desirable and sustainable career path  Prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of our team is essential to retaining nurses in the ED, and fostering and maintaning a strong culture of teamwork and mutual support plays a vital role in that. We have to make sure we are supporting nurses professional growth and development and strengthen pathways to career advancement.  Each EBA has had some improvement in recognition of the unsociable hours worked by nurses but while pay increases and allowances are great, there are long term impacts of working shift work that ED nurses can't easily get away from. We need to keep advocating for improved staffing and conditions to ensure we are caring for rather than exhausting our highly skilled workforce.  

Thank you to all the nurses in the department for everything you do everyday in providing excellent care. I feel lucky to be in a position of leadership for such an outstanding team.

Ida O’Dwyer
Ida O’Dwyer completed her training at St Vincent’s Hospital in 1902. In 1906, Ida O’Dwyer joined the Australian Army Nursing Service Reserve (AANS). By 1914, Ida was called up for active service and held nursing positions in Egypt, France and England including sister-in-charge of the third Australian Clearing Station in London, before returning home in 1918. For her devotion to duty and service Ida received the highest honour for nurses that is the Royal Red Cross. 

As the Charities Board of Victoria states:

The boys in the tranches never could repay their debt to the nurses, nor did those at home realise the respect they entertained for those noble women. Not only were they “all there” in efficiency, but in the little touch of sympathy that means so much to a sick man. (1962, p9 in Mary Sheehan 2005, p 60)

In 1923, whilst working at the Army Hospital in MacLeod, Ida established the St Vincent’s Past Nurses Association (now the St Vincent’s Nurses Alumni) and became its first President. Ida became a Life Governor of St Vincent’s Hospital and a Life Member of the Royal Victorian College of Nursing. (Sheehan, 2005)

Join the Alumni

Catch up with friends and former colleagues, share news, enjoy annual events and reunions, and keep up with what’s happening at the hospital. The St Vincent’s Nurses Alumni Committee invites you to become a member and help the Alumni achieve its goals.

Membership is open to:

  • nursing graduates
  • enrolled and registered nurse employees (current and past) from St Vincent’s Hospital (Melbourne)
  • those invited by the St Vincent’s Nurses Alumni Committee to participate.

There is no joining fee.

To join, please email stvsnursesalumni@gmail.com:

Your name:
Your email address:
Mobile phone number:
Year of graduation:
Current or previous St Vincent’s employee:
Any other information you wish to share:

Donations contribute to the work of the St Vincent's Nurses Alumni.