July 12, 2024

Get to know Natalie Bloomfield

#WeAreNorthern

Meet Natalie Bloomfield, Aboriginal Clinical Nurse Educator.

What is your coffee order?

No coffee for me, I run off hot chocolate, orange juice or a blue heaven milkshake.

Tell us about your mob please?

I am a proud Gunai/Kurnai descendant, from the regions in East Gippsland. 

Natalie, we first wrote about you as the recipient of the Aboriginal Postgraduate Nursing and Midwifery Scholarships Program (Master of Education).  That was in 2020. What has happened since?

I am now the Aboriginal Clinical Nurse Educator and work with Narrun Wilip – giin, Aboriginal Support Unit. This role is very important in growing career pathways into the healthcare sector for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

My role is to ensure all First Nations staff are supported culturally, by providing mentorship and a link with the community. Every year, the cadetship, graduate and postgraduate pathways grow in numbers and success.

So far I have had the privilege of watching the journey of our cadets and graduates take on different roles and follow their passions into specialty areas.

What are the best things about working at Northern Health?

Working with my deadly team, building partnerships with the community and being able to watch colleagues kick their goals!

What is something not many people know about you?

I love art, anything to do with paintings, photography, architecture.

This year’s NAIDOC Theme is ‘Keep the fire burning! Blak, loud and proud’. What does it mean to you?

To me, it means to keep sharing our culture and to be loud and proud about it. I love being able to spend time with my family, friends and work colleagues; especially being able to see what they experience and ask questions about NAIDOC Week.