The newest batches of Bendigo Health nurses have begun their careers this week.
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More than 100 graduates have joined the organisation's workforce, and would rotate through areas such as emergency, aged care, midwifery, mental health and palliative care.
Among the new nurses was Sam Struzzi, who came into nursing as a mature age student following a career change.
Mr Struzzi said he was very excited to start his new career.
"I did not-for-profit management program development in the United States, before I moved to Australia," he said.
"I moved to Australia and changed gears and [worked as a] travel agent for a while, did corporate travel management for two years; that kind of fell apart round about COVID.
"I took it as an opportunity to really pursue what I wanted to do, which is nursing."
Mr Struzzi said he has lived with type one diabetes all his life, which motivated him to "give back" as a nurse.
"A tremendous part of my success with living with that illness is the nursing team that surrounded me as a child, teenager, and adult, they gave me the education and the tools I needed," he said.