With her two children now grown up, Corrimal mum Emma Bennett decided she wanted a life change, and decided to become a nurse.
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In her 40s, Ms Bennett said starting training with students half her age was daunting, but it was no surprise she chose the profession.
"My mum was a nurse, my aunt's a nurse, my cousin's a nurse, and my grandfather was a doctor," she said.
"So it was kind of inevitable, it was always going to happen."
The Illawarra will soon need a lot more people like Ms Bennett if it is to get anywhere close to filling the need for nurses and health care workers.
A TAFE NSW report forecasts the need for an additional 1200 healthcare jobs in the Illawarra in the next three years, a 6.3 per cent increase.
The fastest growing jobs within the sector are aged and disabled carers, enrolled nurse, dental assistant and personal care assistant.
With this demand, Ms Bennett didn't struggle to find a job once she completed her Diploma in Nursing from Shellharbour TAFE, but this did not minimise the training task, which included placements at Figtree Private Hospital, Wollongong Private Hospital.
"It was pretty daunting at the start, because you've got patients' lives in your hands, but the people that I had that were mentoring me when I was on placement were fantastic."
Having completed her studies at the end of last year, Ms Bennett now works as an enrolled nurse at Wollongong Private Hospital. Having worked in the maternity ward during one of her placements, Ms Bennett found this was where she wanted to end up.
"I had really great experiences when I had my kids and I really wanted to give that back."
While not denying the workload and pressure, Ms Bennett said the variety of work in a maternity ward keeps the days engaging and the connection she has developed with her patients.
"I recently received a beautiful gift from a patient with a beautiful letter, just to say thank you so much for the care and everything that you've given. That meant a lot to me to receive that from them."
After going through the diploma course and now in the workforce, Ms Bennett said what she initially saw as a barrier, has now become an asset.
"You can't put a price on having life experience and in maternity I can empathise with the patients, I understand how daunting it is having babies," she said.
"It's nice to be able to bring personal experience, as well as my clinical skills."
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