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Kristy says the graduate programme with Wellington Free Ambulance is designed to help students who have completed their degree to adjust to shift work and the responsibility of being the second crew partner on an ambulance.

 “The paramedic degree equips students with the clinical knowledge required to understand what it is to be a paramedic.”

 The one year programme supports Graduate Paramedics starting out in their career.

 “The graduate programme entails a Graduate Paramedic working with a Preceptor for six months, throughout the six months the graduate is exposed to working with their crew partner, attending jobs they may or may not have been to before, and working towards goals to ensure they are meeting requirements.”

 Kristy enjoys her role working with new graduates and the variety of work in clinical education; her portfolio is the graduate programme, however as an educator she is required at times to cover others roles and assist with courses on weekends, especially when there is any new equipment that needs teaching about within Wellington Free.

 She says she is still able to work as a CPA as overtime on a weekend or if workload is excessive she is able to jump on and assist if needed. The same goes for working on the ambulance as a Paramedic.

“We are required to do hours to keep up our clinical practice and our Authority to Practice (ATP),” says Kristy.

 Cassandra, a recent graduate says she is looking forward to the challenge of furthering her practice. “It’s exciting to be going out on the road as a staff member, and it’s a great opportunity to begin building on my skills and knowledge learnt in the degree.”

She is pragmatic about the road ahead and what the role of a new graduate entails, “as a student we have always had a ‘safety bubble’ of sorts when it comes to patient care, as we always had two others watching over us. As a graduate we must become confident in our own practice because the responsibility of caring for patients becomes much more our own.”

 It helps that Cassandra already knows staff from previous placements with Wellington Free, including her preceptor. She is looking forward to learning from someone with years of experience to guide her practice.

 Hayley another new graduate, says joining Wellington Free has been great. “The people, the educators have been amazing. The shift managers have been so helpful and the crew I have been on with have been great too.”

 Kristy says one of the most important things for new graduates to remember is that they will always be learning, there will always be a presentation of a condition they haven’t seen before or a medication that someone may be on that they haven’t heard of.

 “The learning never stops,” she says.