The Buchan Bush Nursing Centre, which opened on August 10, 1911, remains the oldest Bush Nursing Centre in Victoria and continues to play a vital role in the small East Gippsland community.
Inside the centre’s office hang two photographs offering a glimpse into its long history.
One is a 1914 group portrait of the Bush Nursing Committee, while another features Matilda Steinke in her nursing uniform. Ms Steinke was the second bush nurse to serve at the centre following its establishment in Buchan.
Bush Nursing Centre representative Anne Brewer said the service was financially secure and continuing to plan for the future, including a proposed new facility to better meet community needs.
Ms Brewer said the centre was preparing its third funding application for a larger and upgraded building, with a site already selected across the road from the current premises.
“We have had planning funding and the planning is all done – there’s a drawing of the plan across the road on a large billboard,” she said.
Ms Brewer began her nursing training at Royal Melbourne Hospital on February 1, 1977, and later completed midwifery training at the Royal Women’s Hospital.
Reflecting on changes within the profession, she said modern university-based nursing education had brought strong academic outcomes, but sometimes at the expense of practical observation and communication skills.
“While academic training is good regarding an understanding of process, there is more to understanding process than computerisation,” she said.
“The skill of listening to people has been lost.”
Ms Brewer recalled recently working with a newly graduated nurse who became alarmed after a cardiac monitor indicated a patient had no vital signs.
“The cardiac monitor certainly says that the patient is dead, but you have to look at the whole picture,” she said.
“I encouraged her to look at the patient rather than the machine.”
Despite ongoing plans for a new facility, Ms Brewer acknowledged that securing infrastructure funding remained highly competitive, particularly for small rural communities.
The Buchan district has a population of about 350 people, with around 100 residents living within the township itself, while more than 120 people access rural health services through the centre.
