Community
25 February, 2026
Welcome graduate nurses
TIMBOON and District Healthcare Service (TDHS) have three graduate registered nurses on staff for the first time ever, taking a big step forward for the service in patient care.
Tam Lacey and Jackson Hand have progressed from enrolled nurses to graduate registered nurses, and TDHS has welcomed Ingrida Dawson to the hospital as another graduate registered nurse.
Ms Dawson said she decided to come back to nursing after a long career in aviation when she was inspired by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I did nursing 50-odd years ago at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and I always intended to go back at some stage,” she said.
“I had a long career in aviation in the interim – I did teaching and I did a lot of training and development in different airlines.
“COVID hit and it really made me look at the possibility of joining the nursing group again.
“I was very impressed with the nurses in that space – they were incredible and I really wanted to work with people like that.
“I came to the end of my aviation career and I thought it’s now or never, so I applied and I got in and I couldn’t believe it.”
Ms Dawson said she loved helping people get back into their communities.
“I love the teamwork, I really enjoy working with people both as team members and also with someone on their care,” she said.
“So working with someone who needs assistance from a health perspective but also families as well, I enjoy being part of the supporting group that looks after people to help them back into the community.
“I get tremendous reward from the small things – health is not all about necessarily taking someone who is really ill and making them completely better, it’s more about making sure that they’re able to manage the situation they find themselves in and I like being part of that and helping them to do that.”
Ms Lacey studied nursing back in 1995 but ended up becoming a dairy farmer until recently when she decided to go back to study to pick it up again.
She said after the separation from her husband she was looking for a way to support herself and her kids when she got back into nursing.
“I enjoy helping people and making them smile,” she said.
“It can be the smallest thing – walk into a room, get them to smile and they start feeling better.
“It’s the rapport you build with them as well and their family members and they keep coming back and they love being here because they get the good care and it becomes like family.
“You’ll see them down the street and they’ll ask you how you’re doing and you can see how they’re going and it’s a continuation of care, which is what I really like.
“I’m here for the long haul.”
Mr Hand, who studied nursing at Deakin’s Warrnambool campus, said he was particularly drawn to the wide array of care provided at TDHS.
“Before I commenced my nursing in 2022, I lost my mother from a medical episode and that motivated me to become a nurse,” he said.
“I love to be able to support people throughout their stay in hospital, especially here in Timboon where we have aged care as well.
“Being able to help people throughout all stages from paediatric coming into urgent care to people generally unwell in the ward and all the way to people who are in aged care to their end of life.
“It’s being able to support them through it and support their family through it.”
Nurse unit manager Jody McGovern said TDHS were lucky to have the three graduate nurses on board.
“We’re fortunate to have the graduate program here and this is actually the first time we’ve had three graduates with us which is amazing,” she said.
“Just to be here for the start of their nursing career is great and the support we can give them and we’ve got a really good clinical nurse education team as well, so we offer lots of support and there’s career progression.
“Even though we’re a small rural hospital we do a lot here and provide a lot for our staff but also for our consumers.
“We deliver really quality care and we’re really proud of that.
“Having the grads here, we love to grow our own here, so it’s really nice that we have three grads and hopefully they’ll want to continue their careers with us.”
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