James Spiller isn’t your average nurse, having worked in security and as a private investigator before turning his hand to healing.
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The graduate nurse grew up in the Blue Mountains before heading down to Sydney to make his fortune after he finished high school. Unfortunately for Mr Spiller, his move came as the global financial crisis (GFC) unfolded, which meant jobs were scarce.
“I thought I needed to make my own job and a friend’s parent was doing private investigation so I went and got my licence and found myself in some very interesting situations,” Mr Spiller said. “It wasn’t very stable work though, so I got a job at an electronic security company.”
In his spare time, Mr Spiller was a St John’s Ambulance volunteer and when the GFC claimed his job, he decided to pursue medicine full-time.
Wagga Rural Referral Hospital is Mr Spiller’s first graduate placement as a mental health nurse, but after a stint in Alice Springs as a student, it feels like a thriving metropolis.
“It’s fantastic here, you’ve got all the services you need and a good culture,” he said. “I do laugh when people complain about peak-hour traffic and there are 10 cars backed up, in Sydney it took me 45 minutes to drive 18 kilometres.”