Thanks to the generosity of the Driscoll family, we have been able to support some incredibly dedicated nurses over the years. One such nurse, Caitlin Mulcahy, is continuing to grow in her cancer care skills years after she was awarded that initial Professor Driscoll Nursing Scholarship.

Originally granted the scholarship in 2020, Caitlin completed the Chemotherapy and Other Systemic Treatments in Cancer Care as well as Blood and Marrow Transplantation units of study as part of the Graduate Certificate in Cancer Care through the Australian College of Nursing.

Since then, Caitlin has been charging forward with her skill development. She’s gained Clinical Nurse Specialist status, has become accredited through her hospital to aid in the training, education and assessment of newly Registered Nurses, and has commenced studying for a certificate (Cert IV) in training and assessment through TAFE to enable her to expand her workplace role in mentoring new nurses. Training and upskilling new nurses is an aspect of Caitlin’s work that she has thoroughly enjoyed finding it “very rewarding to watch the new nurses on the unit develop”.

Caitlin has also begun her training in apheresis, and is already competent in red cell and plasma exchanges, and is beginning to learn stem cell collections now. Caitlin credits her early studies for her ability to master these competencies “If it weren’t for the Graduate Certificate I completed, my knowledge would be out of depth to handle it” she says.

Coincidentally, the first autologous stem cell collection Caitlin performed (under supervision) was for a patient who had received IVF treatment under Professor Geoffrey Driscoll!

“All these years later, she [the patient] still had many kind words to say about him, and his efforts!” Caitlin says.

Caitlin is “incredibly thankful to the family of Professor Driscoll for creating this opportunity. Without their support, this [career development] would not have been possible.”