Toronto: Young stars in healthcare

Toronto’s Neave O’Reilly has won gold in the Hunter Region WorldSkills 2022 Competition for Health Care, the first time the category has been run regionally.

The 18-year-old is studying a Diploma of Nursing at TAFE NSW Newcastle and won the regional competition by performing critical health care skills in a simulated environment, including hospital, home and aged care, and care planning.

TAFE NSW Head Teacher Allied Health and Nursing, Lynelle Jenkinson, said the competition was intense, with the seven Hunter competitors testing their skills under assessment conditions in the TAFE NSW Simulation Clinical Labs.

“Our competitors were assessed on their self-management, on communication, interpersonal, and problem solving skills, as well as on innovation, creativity and empathy,” said Ms Jenkinson.
“It was wonderful to see the competitors demonstrate many of the practical skills they’ve been learning during their TAFE NSW studies. The competition was of an extremely high standard with Neave a deserving winner.”

Neave completed the Certificate III in Health Services Assistance with TAFE NSW while at school and is continuing her career path with the Diploma of Nursing. “I really enjoyed the experience in getting to learn these skills and how to interpret the results, which made me more confident in the skills assessments I had to undertake as part of the Diploma,” said Neave.

“I am extremely grateful for the support of the TAFE NSW teachers and staff during this process, and how willing they were to take the time to help me in preparing for WorldSkills, as well as their encouragement during the assessment that helped ease my nerves.”

Neave will now have the chance to compete in the National WorldSkills Competition in Melbourne.