Nurses on the move from students to advanced beginners

107 new graduate Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives are part of the 2019 Transition to Practice Program. The nurses and midwives are from all over the state and the local area and will work in a variety of Health Services and Multipurpose Services across the District.

The Transition to Professional Practice Program provides ongoing education and support and facilitates professional practice behaviours for new nurses and midwives to help build their skills and confidence to support them transition from being a student to an advanced beginner nurse.

Nursing & Midwifery Transition and Workforce Manager, Jackie Corliss, said, “As a Local Health District, we commit a significant amount of time and effort to support and educate our newly registered nurses and midwives. This program really helps them consolidate the nursing skills and knowledge they've learnt at university and helps them become confident nurses."

“The program also helps new graduate nurses and midwifes develop clinical competence to deliver the best nursing care to our communities," Ms Corliss said.

“We want to provide a positive and quality experience, so the nurses and midwives are encouraged to continue working with us beyond their transition year. Supporting and retaining these nurses has significant benefits to both our local facilities and our communities."

“By gaining experience in working in both a regional or rural hospital, the graduate nurses and midwives can experience the differences. Nurses who work in our rural communities get great broad clinical experience which helps their career development.”

“New graduate nurses coming from Sydney get a taste of living and working in the country, and we hope they want to stay here for longer."

Orange local Kimberly Belmonte is one of the graduates lucky enough to call the Orange Health Service (OHS) her new workplace so close to home, “This is a bit of a career change for me, after getting this grad position in Orange, I feel really lucky, I know a lot of other graduates have travelled and moved here from quite far away, so I really do feel lucky that I can work in a place like this where I live.”

“The OHS is an amazing facility, I have done a lot of clinical placements throughout the university here and it has a lot to offer. There is actually a lot of different career paths you can actually take. This grad year is very exciting, it’s a good chance to develop the skills we have learnt.”