Fiona67

Can anyone recommend a good grad programme, either through experience or by word of mouth from someone else, lots of good advice on here about different programmes but you never really hear about them once people start.
Especially would like to know about Rockingham WA, or Redcliffe,Qld. But all experiences would be most welcome.

Thanks for your help

cheekymoo

Hi Fiona,
I can only comment on the Grad programme for Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in WA. The grads who join this programme are well supported through the year and really enjoy their time gaining and consolidating their learning.
Have you contacted Rockingham hospital for information? WA Health Authority are in the UK just now recruiting, so it might be worthwhile speaking to them face to face to see what they can offer?
Good luck in your choice.
CM

Fiona67

Thanks for your reply, it was good of you to get back to me.
I have spoken with a representative of WA and they were keen to get rockingham to get in touch with me. But not knowing much about them I was unsure of what to expect.

Cheers anyway

Fiona

eddie007

Are you very newly qualified?

IMHO the Grad programs here is to support the Ozzie educated nurses who often have very little 'hands on' nursing practice in their training.... my goodness if you thought uk nursing students were too posh to wash, then you ought to meet some of these guys... I know, before anyone shoots me down in flames, nearly every nursing course content here is different... so theory/practice hours varies and so does hands on experience.

Anyone remember the NMC making enquiries as to whether NQs in the uk were Fit for Practice at the Point of Registration? and were talking about adding a years supervised practice for NQ staff? (whatever happened to that by the way?)..... I think it also VERY much depends on the quality of the Grad program you get too, and often the only way to judge that is with hindsight...

sorry if that sounds negative, but in my expereince uk nurses roll off the production line a more 'finished' product...

Ducks and waits for the barage of abuse coming my way.....

augigi

Did you do a grad program in Australia?

In my experience, the grad program was not about hands-on experience. The working days took care of that. The grad program involved having a mentor, rotating to various areas to get exposure to different specialties, and a classroom day each week learning about time management, more A&P etc.

Any university-based course will have relatively small amounts of clinical experience involved. However many of my classmates and I all worked at nursing homes etc throughout our degree and had plenty of hands-on experience at graduation.

hollykimalan

Well....

"The working days took care of that. The grad program involved having a mentor, rotating to various areas to get exposure to different specialties, and a classroom day each week learning about time management, more A&P etc"
That sounds to me like "developing hands-on experience skills" to me....

HKA
x

eddie007

Sorry, but I have to bite on this one.... hands on experience in nursing homes is hands on PERSONAL CARE experience, not NURSING experience. In the UK we have a 50/50 split of nursing skills (hands on and not PCA work) and academic theory...

IF the NHs you worked in as Nursing Students ourside of your STUDENT IN PRACTICE role allowed you to undertake nursing roles then there is a problem... were you assessing/ care planning/ administering medications/ ordering diagnostics/ accountable/ liasing with AHPs as students woirking in homes? YES! and your employers face commonwealth investigation NO = you were NOT getting hands on NURSING experience...

sorry
rant over..

suziegaz

hi cheekymoo

above you mention that WA health authority is in the UK for interviews, could you provide me with further info, when lookin through rcn bulletin i could only see recruitment teams for sir charlies gairdner (health staff agency) and for St john of god (IPA agency)

am i bein thick or is this wat you mean

thanks for the info

suzie and gaz
x

cheekymoo

Hi Suzie and Gaz,
I posted the flyer on this site a couple of weeks ago (you may have missed it) having been sent this by WA Health. Its on page 5 under the thread 'Recrutiment drive for WA'. They are recruiting in Edinburgh 23-24th February, London 1-2 March and Belfast 8-9th March.
Even if you miss this then they will undoubtedly be keen to hear from you at other times. Recruitment is ongoing for nurses.
Hope that this helps?
CM

augigi

Have you done a grad program in Australia?

suziegaz

cheekymoo

i did miss that flier, no idea how when i am on here daily checking out info lol, thanks for the info, the numbers will be great for when it is time for me to apply

thanks again

suzie and gaz

xx

lyndhurst

Hi

we are looking to move to queensland around the mid 2009 i will have just qualified as a midwife (hopefully).

does anyone know if i can get on to a grad program in Queensland. i know they do them in Perth etc but cant seem to find one in Queensland only for nurses.

thanks all and good luck with getting jobs

cheryl

eddie007

Sorry, your point is?

Why would a Specialist Practitioner who teaches and assesses pre and post grad students be doing a new grad program?

augigi

So that's a no, then? I think it's important to know people's experience in the matter of discussion in order to weight the significance of their opinion.

No, actually as I said the working days took care of "hands-on skills". I would call hands-on skills things like blood sugars, injections, wound dressings, IV pumps, NG tubes etc.

The program days were theory, and not skills-based.

eddie007

I did not undertake a new grad program here in Australia as I arrived as a specialist practitioner. I currently TEACH new grads.. I have advised the NMC on Nurse education programs pre and post registration and I have written preceptorship programs for newly qualified RNs as well as delivered them.

My Nursing Educational Academic background as well as my Nursing experince should be enough "weight" to my opinion on new grad programs and the need for them here in Australia. I teach and mentor australian nursing students.

I did not undertake a new grad program here.... because I did not arrive here as newly qualified australian trained nurse. am a uk trained nurse who is considered "fit to practice at the point of registration" AND I have years of nursing experience and experience in Educating nurses..

The problem with newly qualified nurses is that they do not know what they do not know.

As far as 'weight to arguments goes' Might I suggest that a PCA?NA?HCA whatever you want to call it ....working in a Nursing Home has NO IDEA of the skills required of an acute sector REGISTERED nurse. And if you think that working in this carer role has equipped you with enough hands on NURSING skills then I think you need to review your expectations of the RN role.

having a more global and less personal expereince and knowledge base would give you perhaps a better understanding of the issues involved.

then perhaps your own 'comments' will have more 'weight'