The 2026 Cabrini Australia nurses and midwives graduate cohort is the largest in the Program’s history. It also contains more Cabrini DNA than any cohort that’s come before it. Forty-one graduates were blessed before a large crowd of family, friends and colleagues in the Chapel on Monday 27 April, taking the total number of 2026 graduates to 90.
Among Monday’s group were graduate midwife Ashleigh Thomson, daughter of Cabrini Infection Prevention and Control Service Manager Kirsty Thomson, Alana Hadjiloukas, daughter of IT Applications Manager Libby Hadjiloukas, and Joseph Melendres, husband of fellow graduate nurse Andrea Melendres, who started the grad program in February.
Joseph has worked in Medical Imaging at Cabrini Malvern for 12 years, and his wife Andrea has worked here as a PCA and before that in Domestic Services for the past six years, but both had been nurses overseas early in their careers. It’s been a juggle for the new grads, but one they’ve been happy to do.
“Andrea encouraged me to retrain in nursing at the same time that she decided to re-train,” Joseph said. “So, the past couple of years have been very busy for us with us both studying and working and raising our two children.
Monday was a full circle moment for Alana, whose two grandmothers were also nurses. When Libby was pregnant with her, Libby’s Cabrini boss was Viv Niteros, who would later become Alana’s boss when she started work in Cabrini Patient Services five years ago. Despite loving her Cabrini administration role, Alana realised nursing was for her.
“Working in a clerical role here, I’ve had some amazing mentors who’ve given me a huge bible of Cabrini knowledge,” she said. “So rather than choosing somewhere else to do my grad year, I wanted it to be Cabrini because I really feel like Cabrini is home.”
“Cabrini sold itself,” Ashleigh said. “I hadn’t really considered Cabrini, but Mum spoke so highly about it, about the culture and how welcoming everyone is, and so I came to the open day and that completely changed my perspective on what I wanted.
“And now I’m here, Mum was right and my first impression was right. We’ve felt very nurtured and the graduate program team has really emphasized that Cabrini wants to invest in us – that we’re Cabrini’s future.”
On February 18, Cabrini Guatemala officially presented the children’s book “No Virus Can Resist Good Habits,” an educational initiative that responds to one of today’s most pressing health challenges: the misuse of antibiotics and the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance.
Cabrini Immigrant Services – Dobbs Ferry (CIS-DF), held a workshop entitled: “Hipertensión: ¿Qué la causa? ¿Cómo se trata?” (Hypertension: What causes it/How to treat it). Amy Della Rocca, a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, and Sarah Townley, a Family Nurse Practitioner, presented the workshop.
I eventually made it through the doors,” Pat said. “I was very ill, and even though there was nothing appealing to me about the thought of staying in a mental health hospital, I realised it was the right thing to do. I had to hold onto something, so I thought if they’re going to send me to a facility, at least I knew that being in a women’s-only place I would be safe.”
That 95 per cent of the almost 1000 patients who we surveyed said they felt safe in our hospital’s care, and that 93 per cent of those surveyed said the quality of care was excellent and they would refer someone who needed psychiatric care, shows that this model really does work.”
The Knitting Group at Cabrini Immigrant Services – Dobbs Ferry, NY (CIS-DF) have been Santa elves as they have crocheted clowns that will be donated to the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY. The very colorful clowns will bring big smiles to the faces of the children who are patients in the hospital.
. Meyers shared that the nomination included comments from several of Ms. Schreier’s peers and truly got to the heart of why she is such a deserving recipient of this award. In his nomination letter, Fr. Ronald Galt, Vice President of Mission and Pastoral Care wrote: “she is without a doubt one of the most dedicated, hardworking and accomplished leaders I have had the pleasure to work with in my career. She is deeply respected and admired by her fellow department leaders, her own staff, as well as other interdisciplinary staff, our volunteers and our residents.”
series of scans.
was invited to play by Cabrini’s Manager of Pastoral and Bereavement Service, Michael Taylor.
‘The journey towards freedom represents the challenging path that many refugees take, escaping oppression and uncertainty for safety in a new place’, says the ARC.
This week is National Palliative Care Week, a time to recognise the work of Cabrini’s palliative care teams who bring comfort, peace and healing, and above all compassion.