Cancer therapy knowledge boosted thanks to nursing scholarship
Alfred Health has been committed to nursing education since opening its doors in 1871, developing some of the most influential nurses in the country.
More than 4500 nurses work across a diverse range of roles at The Alfred. The care and dedication of our nursing workforce is crucial to the positive outcomes that so many of our patients experience.
To further support and develop nurses with a passion for improving healthcare, the Alfred Health Nursing Scholarship – Advancing Nursing Leadership was launched in 2018. The scholarship continues today, thanks to generous supporters HealthSmart Pharmacy, The Alfred Cafe and BankFirst.
The 2023 recipient, Cassie Abbott, has been the CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy) Clinical Nurse Coordinator since June 2022. CAR-T is a new treatment for certain types of blood cancers that uses a person’s own immune cells to try to destroy cancer cells.
The scholarship allowed Cassie the opportunity to visit three hospitals in the US to observe their CAR-T processes and procedures, the patient journey, the flow of and the roles within the service, as well as find educational resources to bring back to The Alfred.
Visiting the University of California San Francisco Medical Centre, Stanford Health, and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for a week each, Cassie was able to observe a variety of CAR-T programs that were all at different stages and sizes.
“It was great to see how the program is run at a larger scale, what roles are involved, who did what and how the patient pathway worked,” she said. “This was very valuable for us as a new program, only starting at The Alfred in April 2022, understanding what we should be implementing and what we had already achieved.”
The 30-year-old said the scholarship also resulted in a huge confidence-boost professionally.
“Not only was it the first time that I had travelled overseas by myself, but being able to go to these workplaces and have professional conversations with consultants, Fellows and nurse practitioners, it built my confidence that I deserved to be there and did know what I was talking about,” Cassie said. “It was quite an eye-opener.”
The scholarship is awarded to an emerging nurse leader in clinical practice, research, education, informatics or management. The aim is to advance nursing practice through clinical observation, research, education and leadership experiences, to share new ideas and concepts to nursing at Alfred Health.
“This is a great chance for staff to professionally develop but also improve the program they work in,” Cassie said. “I would definitely encourage staff to apply and take advantage of this amazing opportunity that I hadn’t heard about at other hospitals.”
Thank you to our generous supporters for their ongoing commitment to nursing education.
Cassie was the 2023 recipient of the Alfred Health Nursing Scholarship. To find out who the 2024 recipients were, please keep an eye on our website and social media channels.
Click here to read the full eBrochure of Impact, The Alfred Foundation's Year in Review publication.
