Sara Walters-Gray

After completing my degree in Whanganui, I moved to Dunedin at the beginning of 2023 for greater opportunities and to complete my NETP. This experience gave me the space to grow into the dedicated and motivated individual I am today, I am passionate about helping people and find a real joy in fostering relationships with patients, my work colleagues, and within the wider community. My last few years of work and study have given me a good foundation of skills and knowledge to build on, and the confidence to keep learning and growing which has become a key point in keeping my passion for work alive. I'm excited for further experiences in our ever-evolving world of healthcare, and I believe my nature of being a compassionate and astute person will assist me in maintaining a safe environment for patients, and continuing to uphold high standards of nursing ethics.

Whanganui Hospital, District Nursing, Transition Placement. Worked alongside a RN in the District Nurses Clinic for 9 weeks attending to patients wounds, drains, catheters and other treatments. Here I learnt how to properly care for wounds using aseptic technique, how to recognise healing/deterioration stages and what dressing type/treatment to use. I built on my ability to form therapeutic relationships with patients across the population, and gained confidence in myself and my practice.

Aramoho Health, PHC Placement. Worked in a GP setting alongside RNs and other members of the healthcare team. Here I gained confidence in my communication skills with health consumers, learnt the importance of health promotion and disease prevention, and built on my clinical skills ie. b12 injections, head-to-toe assessments, vaccinations, cervical screening, b4 school checks ect.

Whanganui Hospital, Community Mental Health. Here I spent 6 weeks working alongside a RN and a team of social workers, caring for community-based mental health patients requiring interventions and treatment. I developed skills in medication administration, correct documentation of patient notes and learnt the importance of holistic care in mental health especially.

Whanganui Hospital, PACU/OT. Spent 6 weeks with the team in PACU and theatre working alongside RNs, surgeons, anesthetists, and HCA’s. Here I learnt about pre/post anaesthetic care, emergency response, and was involved in triaging as well as giving detailed handovers when transferring patients from PACU to the wards. This experience sparked my interest in surgical/theatre nursing.

St Johns Hill Healthcare, Aged-care Placement. For my first placement I spent 5 weeks at St Johns Hill Healthcare in the rest-home unit working alongside an RN, ENs and HCAs. Here I learnt the fundamentals of care and developed the baseline of my skills as a student nurse i.e assisting with showering, dressing, feeding, taking vital signs, manual handling ect.

Terry Wall (CNM) 

E: terry.wall@southerndhb.govt.nz, P: 0278078932

Jessie Shepherd (NETP Preceptor) 

E: jayjays12131@gmail.com, P: 0275194638