Audrey Molinari with her grandson. Photo supplied and published with permission
There’s a pleasing symmetry to Audrey Molinari’s career. The maternal and child health nurse’s interest in nursing and healthcare began when she herself was a child.
‘I always wanted to be a nurse,’ she says, ‘ever since I was a little girl.’
Unfortunately for young Audrey, she finished high school just before nursing studies were moved to universities and the local hospital training program was incredibly tough to get into. ‘Only 12 girls got in – and you only got in if your mum was a nurse.’
As the first person wanting to be a nurse in her family, Audrey didn’t get in.
She was, however, accepted into a science degree at what was then called Gippsland Institute but she ultimately decided not to enrol because it was ‘based on nursing’ but wasn’t actually nursing. ‘I wasn’t interested in that,’ she says.
She instead studied dental nursing, married her high school sweetheart and had three children. When her youngest was in kinder, she began thinking again about pursuing her first love and going back to school to study nursing. This time, she got in.
And this time, Audrey wasn’t going to let anyone stop her. She completed her Bachelor of Nursing and after working for several years as an RN, she completed her midwifery studies, and spent several years working in the local hospital system.
‘I loved being a nurse and a midwife at the local hospital. I really, really did. I still recommend it as a job – my daughter is a nurse. And if I get young ones asking, I tell them: it’s an amazing job, an awesome job.’
Catching babies, then caring for them as they grow
However, eventually Audrey was ready for more and in 2018 she got her postgraduate diploma in child and family health – and has been in high demand as a maternal and child health nurse ever since.
‘I’ve got lots and lots of work,’ she says. ‘I can work as a nurse or as a midwife or as a maternal and child health nurse if I want – and I do all three.’
Being a maternal and child health nurse adds an extra dimension to her working life, she says: ‘I’ve caught a lot of babies in the valley. Now I see them in maternal and child health. I get to see them growing up. I love it.’
Caring for colleagues
It’s the families, and making a difference to people’s lives, that drives Audrey. And it’s not just about making a difference to the lives of patients and women, but to the lives of her colleagues as well. Audrey has been an ANMF Job Rep since 2008. For about nine months, she worked as an ANMF Organiser on secondment. And in 2023, she was elected to Branch Council.
‘I loved being an Organiser,’ she says. ‘Loved it. But when they offered the job to me full time, I couldn’t take it because I’ve got other commitments. And I’d miss clinical work too much.’
But Branch Council work is not a full-time commitment, and Councillors must be practising nurses, midwives or personal care workers. To Audrey, it seemed like a good option to keep her connected with the Branch at a deeper level.
As a regional Councillor, Audrey’s key focus is to provide a regional perspective. ‘I’ve lived here a long time, and I’m not going anywhere,’ she says. ‘So that’s what I want to be [on Council] for.’
Ultimately, she’s just hoping to help members retain their passion for nursing and midwifery. ‘Over the last 20-odd years of being a nurse, I can’t believe the change. It’s an amazing job.’
