Lourdes Serios' Story
- Name:
- Lourdes Serios
- Occupation:
- Registered Nurse
- Immigrated from:
- Philippines
- Settled in:
- Melbourne, Victoria
"I absolutely love my nursing job. I came as an international student, it was a great opportunity for me - I loved meeting the many students of all different backgrounds and now I love working with my new Southern Health family."
Why I love Victoria
Lourdes and her husband Sam live in Cheltenham, a bayside suburb of Melbourne, within walking distance of the hospital where she works. "We have a car but it is nicer and easier to walk. I work shift work so it is good to be close by," Lourdes explains.
Melbourne is Australia's most multicultural city, and Lourdes enjoys the opportunity to meet all kinds of people from many places through her study and work.
"I love working in Victoria, you can enjoy many different things and meet many interesting people," Lourdes said.
How I got here
Lourdes carefully considered her options for studying overseas before choosing Melbourne, the city where some of her family had already chosen to live. She says she was easily convinced by the climate, good environment and friendly people.
"Living in Melbourne is wonderful. My family live here and I am the last to join them. I have been here for three years and it is great."
Work in Victoria
Southern Health is a large employer of health care professionals, who Lourdes contacted while she was studying in Melbourne. Now, Lourdes works as a nurse at Allenby, a mental health unit of Southern Health. Her job involves caring for 35 elderly residents, administering medication, and maintaining a true family environment by ensuring that residents are comfortable and feel safe and loved.
The work can be challenging, but also very rewarding. Lourdes is praised by her supervisor who says, "Lourdes is a very caring, competent, thorough worker, she looks after the residents and their families very well."
Lourdes' supervisor says, "Southern Health has employed a number of international students. Their experience is of great wealth to our hospital. They make very willing nurses and quickly become part of the team. Southern Health also offers a lot of mentorship and support along with a very good staff development program offered to all of their staff."
Lourdes concurs, "The people I work with are supportive and professional and the working conditions are very good."
What we love about Victoria
When Lourdes and her husband are not working they enjoy dining out in the many restaurants of Melbourne, surfing the internet, watching movies at the local cinema, shopping or relaxing on an evening walk around Cheltenham.
"We have not travelled around so much yet in Victoria, but we know there are great places to visit. I visit my mum whenever I can. She is very proud of me working at Southern Health."
The future
Lourdes is looking forward to a bright future in Victoria, "I want to continue my career as a nurse. I want to stay here in Victoria and I would really like to keep learning. I would like to study more about mental health, it is very interesting and rewarding."
"Australia is a very beautiful, peaceful place and a great place to live."
Further information
- Living in Melbourne
- Working as a Registered Nurse - check your eligibility for sponsorship and assessment information.
Victoria
Migration tools
Related Sites
Last updated: 05 November 2009
State Government of Victoria