New Emergency leader reflects career opportunities

FROM a graduate nurse to nurse unit manager, Cat Bunn’s journey at Bass Coast Health (BCH) reflects the career opportunities available at the health service.

Cat has been appointed Nurse Unit Manager of the Emergency Department (ED) at Wonthaggi Hospital after acting in the role since May 2022.

“I’m very happy and excited. I love working with this team,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to growing the team in our new building. There are so many opportunities, such as the fast-track unit that will enable patients with minor conditions to be assessed and treated sooner in our busy Emergency Department.”

Cat undertook her Graduate Nurse year with BCH and worked in the ED from 2014 before moving interstate to work in the ED at Alice Springs Hospital in the Northern Territory.

“Alice Springs was an amazing opportunity. It was great to try something different and it was a big learning curve working in a different community,” she said.

There, she worked on the floor and became a Team Leader and Clinical Nurse Specialist, the equivalent of an Associate Nurse Unit Manager (ANUM) in Victoria.

She returned to Wonthaggi Hospital for an ANUM role in ED in 2021.

While acting in the ED NUM role, Cat was instrumental in helping the ED team transition to the purpose-built Emergency Department within the new Wonthaggi Hospital and is loving the new space.

“I like ED because you never know what you’re going to get. You see people in their sickest and most vulnerable state, and there is beauty in being able to help them and their families through those times,” she said.

“The ED team is so close-knit. You have a special bond because of the work you do and the demands of the job.”

BCH has a dedicated Learning and Development team to support new and existing clinical staff in the workplace and to pursue further education.

Wonthaggi Hospital was recently named an accredited training site of Federation University Australia and will soon be hosting first year Nursing students, who will undertake tutorials and practical training in dedicated clinical training spaces.

If you would like to work with BCH, email the Human Resources team: hr@basscoasthealth.org.au