The South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne are culturally diverse however, this area of Victoria does not provide the opportunity for a nurse working in the field of renal dialysis to have an insight into the complex issues and challenges faced by indigenous Australians with End Stage Renal Disease.
To improve my knowledge and understanding of the challenges faced by, not only indigenous Australians when accessing the healthcare system in a remote environment, but also nursing and medical staff working in these areas, I attended the Renal Society Australasia conference in 2006 to source information from a Northern Territory Representative.
The information provided described employment opportunities open to renal nurses looking to gain experience working in the Northern Territory.
Following discussions with my employer and family members, I negotiated a 6 month leave of absence from my position of Nurse Unit Manager of a 9 station satellite dialysis unit, making it possible to take up a position at the 20 bed hospital in Tennant Creek, working within an 8 station satellite dialysis unit.

The experience gave me the opportunity to care for indigenous patients, and to experience first hand the problems that contribute to a number of healthcare issues that they commonly face, furthermore I was able to observe how the multidisciplinary healthcare team provide vital healthcare for the community of Tennant Creek.