2025 Graduate of the Year

Eloise Pascoe

Eloise commenced working in the newly established Aboriginal Midwifery Group Practice, six months into her graduate program at King Edward Memorial Hospital. It was quickly apparent that Eloise was passionate in her role, striving hard to ensure the women and babies were provided equitable service, achieved positive outcomes, and worked continuously to ensure their clinic space was welcoming and culturally appropriate.

Eloise works closely with the midwives in her MGP, is supportive of all team members and is a valued member of the team. She is a dedicated midwife, and acts as a role model by providing woman centred care to all women she cares for. Eloise is well respected by her peers and the members of Aboriginal Midwifery Group Practice.

Eloise has demonstrated leadership skills during her time as a graduate by working with her fellow midwives to assist in them obtaining their waterbirth competencies. This not only advances others professional practice but also gives the women in their Midwifery Group Practice team more birth choice.

Eloise is committed to providing woman centred care to the women she cares for. She will go out of her way to support the women, such as taking the time to go to Special Care Nursery to check on a preterm baby for a mother who could not visit her baby. Eloise is compassionate and empathetic with the women and families, demonstrating kindness, care and empathy, a willingness to go above and beyond to support them.

Francine Ocampo

Francine is a Graduate Registered Nurse working at Royal Perth Hospital, where she delivers compassionate, high-quality care to patients while contributing to the multidisciplinary team’s success. Her wards specialities include Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, Ear Nose and Throat and Maxillofacial Surgery. Quite remarkably Francine only commenced her nursing career in February 2024. Alongside her nursing role, she works as a Research Assistant on projects aimed to improve care for frail older adults (65+ years), particularly those undergoing chemotherapy. Francine’s responsibilities include conducting patient interviews, collecting and analysing data, and preparing manuscripts for publication. Her dual role highlights a strong commitment to advancing patient care through both clinical practice and impactful research.

Francine supports her peers and nursing students on their placements by actively mentoring them. Francine utilises the skills that she is developing through the Australian College of Nursing, Emerging Nurse Leader Program which she commenced in 2024 to develop her mentoring skills. Francine shares her learning experience to inspire others and explore the options within the nursing profession beyond the bedside.

Francine presented at the International Congress on Innovation and Leadership in Nursing and Midwifery in May 2023 as one of the authors, winning the ‘Best Poster Presentation’ award for the research: “A systematic scoping review of evaluations and experiences of hospital volunteer programs for older patients in acute care.” She has also presented on “Nursing student reflections on a research internship: A reflective discussion following the Gibbs’ reflective cycle” at the 9th International Nurse Education Conference” and at The National Nursing Forum 2024, in August 2024.

At such an early stage in her career, Francine’s collaboration and partnerships with senior medical and nursing researchers on published papers should be commended. Francine translates research into practice to influence the best possible outcome for patients.

The extremely high level of passion Francine has for nursing is evident through her actions. She is a high achiever that is dedicated to progressing the profession with a focus on delivering better care for patients. She has demonstrated courage by working collaboratively with more experienced members of the multi-disciplinary team and holding the best interest of the patient at the centre of her practice, ensuring holistic.

Francine is an impressive nurse graduate. Her confidence, advocacy and initiative is to be commended.

Solomon Harrison

Solomon is a dedicated graduate nurse at Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Group who plays a key role in providing high-quality, person-centred care and consistently demonstrates a commitment to providing safe and responsive care to his patients, always going above and beyond to ensure they receive the best possible treatment.

He actively participates in professional development opportunities and continuously seeks learning opportunities to advance his knowledge and skills. His dedication to ongoing learning and sharing knowledge with peers has fostered a culture of excellence within the team. Moreover, Solomon has actively participated in two Quality Improvement (QI) projects during his Graduate Program. The project, ‘End PJ Paralysis’, encouraged patients to change out of hospital attire into their own clothes, simulating home routines and reducing the length of hospital stays. This initiative showcased Solomon’s understanding of holistic patient care and his commitment to enhancing patient recovery outcomes. Additionally, Solomon also contributed to the ‘Orthostatic

Hypotension’ project aimed at increasing staff awareness and knowledge about early recognition of falls risks. By actively supporting and promoting this initiative, Solomon helped to reduce falls and decrease the length of hospital stays.

The impact of Solomon’s work is evident in the positive feedback from his patients and colleagues. Solomon role-models expected behaviours, and his proactive nature, quick learning abilities, and problem-solving skills resonate with his peers and make him a natural leader. Moreover, his compassionate approach enables him to connect with his patients, providing not only medical care but also emotional support.

To sum it all up with a quote from Solomon’s current SDN on Ward 5: “Solomon has shown outstanding compassion, care and empathy not only towards patients but his co-workers also. He constantly strives for excellence and has meetings with me on what/how he can progress within his career…. he’s been recognised on our ward and been commended for his efforts and positive impact he’s had on the ward”.