CRAIG Egan, the new director of nursing at the Cunnamulla Multipurpose Health Service started employment in the navy.

But even that travel-rich job as a naval electronics crewman did not sate his thirst for adventure.

He quit the navy after eight years, to work on oil and gas rigs in mostly remote Queensland.

Then he went for yet another change of job.

He then chose nursing, studying in Adelaide in the 1990s.

His work history includes a job in a heart and lung transplant intensive care unit at London’s Harefield Hospital, and being director of nursing or acting director of nursing in Innisfail, Palm Island, Charters Towers, Magnetic Island, Cooktown and Biggenden.

“I’m an adventurous person who likes new challenges, including sailing ocean racing yachts after first getting involved in racing dinghies as a 12 or 13-year-old,’’ he said.

“My current project is restoring a 4.8m sailing boat.”

For the past 12 months, he was regional manager of mental health services in south-eastern South Australia, based at Mt Gambier.

But once again the lure of working in rural Queensland called.

“Now I’m looking forward to the challenges of working in rural and remote Queensland again, of tackling the issues of staff recruitment and retention, as well as the chronic diseases that confront the regions.

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