January 22, 2024

UOW nursing student awarded prestigious international scholarship

Emily Detourettes awarded global Pamela Jane Nye Working Nurse Scholarship, celebrating unsung heroes in nursing

University of Wollongong (UOW) master's student, Emily Detourettes, has been awarded the 2023 Pamela Jane Nye Working Nurse Scholarship, a prestigious international scholarship supporting working nurses seeking to achieve higher education.

The Pamela Jane Nye Working Nurse Scholarship celebrates the work of the unsung heroes in our community - nurses. The scholarship was established to support a Registered Nurse intending to work part-time whilst undertaking postgraduate nursing studies at UOW.

UOW is the only Australian university to offer the international scholarship, alongside elite universities in the United States of America, including UCLA Medical Centre, Martin Luther King Hospital, UCLA School of Nursing and UCSF School of Nursing.

Ms Detourettes is an Associate Lecturer from the School of Nursing at UOW Bega Valley, and is currently undertaking her master’s degree, while also working as a midwife at South East Regional Hospital. In 2023, she completed her final subject ‘Prescribing for midwives’, and now is an endorsed midwife.

“I am committed to lifelong learning. My decision to take on academic study as a Master of Philosophy in nursing, whilst working part-time and being a full-time mum to three little boys has been a big decision,” Ms Detourettes said.

Emily works in a rural setting where resources are often limited and access to broader and specialised services is not always easily accessible. Her dedication to her local community drives her passion for nursing and determination to give back to her patients, staff and students.

“As a health professional, I am committed to improving my skills and knowledge so that I can be the best version of myself in all my varied working capacities and believe that ultimately, this positively impacts the care I can provide to my patients and the influence I can have with colleagues.”

Ms Detourettes said work in healthcare has seen significant challenges in the past few years with the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia’s Black Summer 2019-2020 megafire in the Bega Valley, standing out as a prime example of nurses as unsung heroes.

“Nurses and midwives turned up every day for a community that needed them. I worked alongside colleagues as we continued to provide care for our community at a rate beyond our normal means of capacity, while caring for our own families at home. That is what nursing is about. It is about being community-minded and giving back to each other,” Ms Detourettes said.

Ms Detourettes believes the scholarship is an opportunity to highlight the collective work that nurses, undertake. Her research will focus on workforce retention and education.

“For me as a teacher, I always appreciate recent clinical experiences to be able to share with students and guide learning. I feel relevant in working and studying at the same time, despite the commitment,” she said.

“While trying to balance study, work and family is daunting, I am committed to taking this opportunity as part of my responsibility to give back to the profession that I love and contribute to a more sustainable and empowered nursing workforce and future.”

Professor Yenna Salamonson, Head of School of Nursing congratulated Emily Detourettes on being announced as the latest recipient of the highly competitive scholarship.

“The Pamela Jane Nye Working Nurse Scholarship recognises Emily’s outstanding approach to nursing excellence and research. Emily is passionate about the importance of engaging and developing future nurses through quality education,” Professor Salamonson said.

“No other nursing education institution in Australia offers this scholarship, thanks to the introduction by UOW Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Patricia M. Davidson in 2021, UOW is the first. This is the second year the scholarship has been awarded to a UOW student. It is unique, as not many scholarships target working nurses.”

Ms Detourettes is currently working towards a Master of Philosophy (Nursing) at UOW and has recently obtained midwifery endorsement with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. She hopes to continue studying, teaching and working as a clinician around her young family. The scholarship has been awarded across 2023 and Semester 1 2024.

About the Pamela Jane Nye Working Nurse Scholarship

Pamela Jane Nye has more than 25 years’ experience as a Neuroscience Clinical Nurse Specialist, providing high quality clinical practice standards and education to nurses working in large, tertiary medical centres in California USA.

Nye is also the CEO of Neuroscience Nursing, Ltd. and CEO/Board Chair/Executive Director of Operation Scrubs, Inc., a non-profit educational organization supporting working nurses seeking to achieve higher education.

Nye’s commitment to raising the profile of nursing as the unsung heroes of healthcare is demonstrated in many countless ways including the expansion of her generous scholarship program internationally.