A Melbourne-based initiative launched during Nurses Week is seeking to provide nurses and healthcare professionals with a supportive community focused on wellbeing, growth and reconnecting with purpose.
A new initiative aimed at supporting healthcare workers was officially launched on 15 May during Nurses Week at the Philippine Consulate in Melbourne, welcoming multicultural nurses, allied health professionals and healthcare associates under the theme Rise Beyond Limits. NurseRise Hub was founded by registered nurse and educator Lee Montajes through her platform Motivationalee.
Hosted by Kitty Dado and featuring a speech from Consul General Domingo, the event focused on well-being, personal growth and strengthening connections among healthcare professionals. Organisers said the initiative aims to create a space where healthcare workers can feel supported beyond their clinical roles and reconnect with their sense of purpose.
Healthcare workers spend much of their lives caring for others, often under demanding conditions that can affect not only their professional lives but also their emotional well-being outside work.
Montajes said years of working as a registered nurse and nurse educator had exposed her to the struggles many healthcare professionals quietly carry, including workplace pressures, emotional exhaustion and feelings of losing confidence or direction.
“As a Registered Nurse and Nurse Educator for many years, I have seen incredibly talented and compassionate healthcare professionals quietly struggle behind the scenes,” Montajes said.
She said many healthcare workers appeared to cope professionally while dealing with personal and emotional challenges that often remained unseen.
“So many conversations were centred around burnout, feeling stuck, losing confidence, workplace pressures, and questioning purpose, yet many felt they had nowhere safe to openly talk, grow, or feel supported beyond clinical work,” she said.
Montajes said those experiences made her realise healthcare workers needed more than education and professional development.
“I realised healthcare professionals did not just need more training, they needed community, inspiration, empowerment, connection, and a space where they could reconnect with themselves as human beings, not just workers,” she said.
She said that realisation eventually led to the creation of NurseRise Hub.
“That was the beginning of NurseRise Hub.”
The initiative follows four guiding principles represented by the acronym R.I.S.E. – Recognise, Ignite, Shift and Evolve. Organisers said the launch recognised not only professional achievements but also the experiences and personal journeys behind healthcare careers.
Montajes said NurseRise Hub was created as an inclusive community open to nurses, allied health professionals, healthcare associates, students, educators, leaders and others working within healthcare, regardless of cultural background or location.
She said the broader vision was to create a supportive environment where people in healthcare could continue growing personally, professionally, emotionally and financially.
“The goal is simple: to help my colleagues, healthcare professionals, associates, rise beyond burnout, reconnect with purpose, build meaningful connections, and realise they are capable of more than just surviving,” she said.
Montajes also offered a message to healthcare professionals who may be experiencing burnout or emotional exhaustion.
“You are not weak for feeling tired. You are human,” she said.
She said healthcare workers often spend so much of their time caring for others that they forget they also need support and care themselves.
“Burnout does not mean you have failed; it may simply mean you have been strong for too long without enough support.”
“NurseRise Hub was created to remind healthcare professionals that they are seen, valued, supported, and never alone in the journey.”
Organisers said NurseRise Hub aims to continue developing as a platform supporting healthcare professionals in their personal and professional growth while strengthening connections within the healthcare community.
All photos supplied by NurseRise
