Portia Bradley

Portia Bradley (’16) was recently awarded the South Australian Nursing and Midwifery Excellence in Practice Award in the Early Career Nurse category. She shares her story and the way Loreto taught her the importance of connection with others, embracing your passions, taking opportunities and being proud of the work you achieve.

Portia in her own words:

“In 2008 my family moved from Melbourne to Adelaide. I was meant to be starting in Year 3, but all the spaces were full at Loreto. My mum was determined to have my older sister and I at the same school, so I was put into Ms Costanzo’s Year 4 blue class, skipping Year 3. At the time, I thought this was really cool, but I have never felt more devastated about missing an event, than I did about the Year 3 Zoo Snooze; something that was talked about right up until we graduated. 

There were a few girls who made the move challenging and would pay me out for my Melbourne twang, and 15 years later, we are still best friends. I think the three of us were separated from being in the same class by Year 6. 

Throughout school, I would change my mind each year about what I wanted to do when I finished. I definitely wasn’t getting the grades (or trying very hard) for half the degrees I wanted to do. It wasn’t until arriving back in Adelaide after the 2015 India Pilgrimage, that I decided I wanted to be a nurse. India was an extremely unique opportunity that Loreto students get to experience, and something I’m so grateful I got to take part in. I’m so lucky I was able to sneak into Year 4, because it was opportunities like this that just made my time at Loreto so much more than education. 

I graduated from Loreto in 2016. I did the required amount of work (and not a second more) to get guaranteed entry into the University of Adelaide to do a Bachelor of Nursing. Much like my schooling, I wasn’t the best uni student either. I loved the human connection and getting to meet and talk to all different kinds of people at all different stages, at such a vulnerable time in their life. Being a nurse isn’t very glamourous sometimes, but being involved in someone’s care is very special, and glamourous to me. 

I completed a compulsory rural placement and fell in love with rural and remote nursing. It’s there I learnt that a nurse’s scope of practice really can be extended, and I was exposed to the adrenaline rush of emergency nursing. Working as a rural and remote generalist we are lucky to be involved in the whole spectrum of life; from neonatal to palliative care. Although the first breathes of life are more enjoyable, it’s as important to be involved in someone’s last. I applied for my graduate year of nursing at any hospital along the Eyre Peninsula, the furthest away from home, and with plenty of beaches. This landed me at The Streaky Bay Hospital. I had to move out of the city to find my niche and find my passion, but I was connected again with a small LOSA community on the EP! I always loved the boarders (and the hot lunches on Thursdays) it was easy to re-connect with the Loretians who then made my move so much easier. 

I finished my graduate year of nursing in February of 2023. In that year I started a Graduate Diploma of Emergency Nursing, completed advanced scope training and mentor programs to be able to teach these skills; and gained my radiation license. It was a challenging but extremely rewarding year, and I can proudly say I’m one of the youngest nurses in Australia with an X-Ray licence. 

I absolutely love the fast paced and rewarding job nursing brings and I’m just lucky enough to have truly found my passion. I was recently awarded the South Australian Nursing and Midwifery Excellence in Practice Award in the Early Career Nurse category, and I guess that’s why I’ve been included in this month’s LOSA story. I don’t feel like I’ve done anything different to any other nurse slogging it around South Australia at the moment, I just love my job. I don’t believe I would have been able to do this without Loreto teaching me; in more ways than one, the importance of connection, to go for every opportunity, to find passion and be proud of the work you achieve. I’m grateful for not only the education but also the zest for life Loreto gave me.”