General News
19 February, 2026
Staff expansion
TERANG and Mortlake Health Service (TMHS) has welcomed new nurses who are eager to make the most of Terang Hospital’s multi-faceted approach to providing care.
From this week two recent Deakin University graduates joined the hospital, in addition to endorsed enrolled nurse Biannca Neil.
They join Lynne Wickenton, who is no stranger to the town as a 25-year Terang resident who has been with the health service since 2013, but she has been hard at work upskilling to better support those who come through the doors at TMHS.
Mrs Wickenton has completed training to jump from being an enrolled nurse to a registered nurse, which allows her to undertake greater responsibilities from clinical decision-making to developing care plans and supervising other staff.
She said the training was important in supporting an aging community in which patients often present with more complex care needs, while also being able to use her skills across the broad scope of care which Terang Hospital offers.
“I was already working here when I went to do training for registered nursing, which provides more opportunities to use your skills supporting people with more complex health conditions,” Mrs Wickenton said.
“Learning and acquiring more skills can be used in more places, even working more closely with online doctors as we make a lot of assessments.
“What I love about Terang Hospital is we have exposure to urgent care, surgery, the ward plus Mount View nursing home.
“One day you might be on the ward, then you’re in urgent care and then you’re in surgery – it’s nice to have the variety.
“We’re very lucky in a small hospital to have all those things.”
Endorsed enrolled nurse Biannca Neil is a Derrinallum product who was working in Ballarat, but made the switch to TMHS to stay closer to home.
“I completed my enrolled nurse as a traineeship through Grampians Health and got my registration in August last year before joining TMHS in October 2025,” she said.
“I was interested in joining TMHS because I’ve heard really good things – I’ve got a few friends who work here – and being local to the area made it nice to come home to work.
“I used to travel an hour and a half every day, so being able to stay home without having to travel or find new spaces is a positive.”
Two of the new nurses, Molly McRae and Ruth Walker, have joined TMHS fresh out of university.
Both are south west products who have graduated from Deakin University’s acclaimed nursing program at the Warrnambool campus – which ranks in the top 15 nursing programs in the world.
Ms Walker said the pain of losing a loved one had inspired her to be a nurse, but so too had a rich family connection to the profession.
“When I was in Year 10 I saw my great aunty on her death bed in a hospital, but I saw all the nurses looking after her and I thought it was such a cool job,” she said.
“Then I worked out I had a bunch of nurses in my family, and my grandpa is a doctor.
“If I had any questions, I had so many people to ask.”
Ms Walker joins TMHS after studying at Deakin University prior to a stint working in Melbourne.
“I’m originally from Warrnambool and lived there my whole life before studying a Bachelor of Nursing at Deakin University,” she said.
“I’ve also done my Diploma of Nursing at Melbourne, where I worked as an enrolled nurse for three years before moving here.
“It’s been very overwhelming but everyone has been so nice and so welcoming.”
Ms McCrae said she was enjoying her first week in Terang.
“I’m from Colac originally but once I finished high school I moved to Warrnambool to study nursing at Deakin University,” she said.
“I always found it interesting how many different things you can do as a nurse – you can go into different career paths, which is really cool.
“I’m also drawn to the fact you can make someone’s day so easily by just being kind.
“It’s a lot to take in, there’s a lot to learn, but I’m loving it so far.”
TMHS clinical nurse educator Jane Kelly said the new additions were adjusting nicely into the team-oriented approach which is prioritised.
“Our graduates have completed orientation this week and now we’re supporting them throughout the year in different ways, from study days to education programs,” she said.
“Being a smaller health service, everyone is really supportive of each other because we rely on working in a team environment.”
Ms Kelly said the new staff would be supported in training throughout the year across the broad services which TMHS offers, which is vital in an industry where the learning never stops.
“Even when you get to the end of your grad year, you still haven’t been exposed to everything – you’re still learning, you’re still seeing things for the first time,” she said.
“Nursing is one of those things where you never stop learning but we do offer preceptorship with an experienced professional.
“The flexibility of having a smaller service is we can offer more preceptorship if need be, and we’re able to offer rotations for graduates through district nursing and aged care so they get that exposure as well.
“There’s more supernumerary as part of those rotations.”
Get a subscription