Gotta start making plans!! Anyone else in the same boat?

Hey Keeshy,

First of all Congrats! I know how you feel, as a 3rd Yr div 1 student I was able to register as div 2 at the end of last year yet unlike you I couldn't apply for full time work because I'm still studying full time. I went with agency but I wouldn't recommend it as your first point of call - it's scary being sent to new places and while it's a good way to get varied experience I reckon getting a job somewhere permanent is way better. Casual or Agency staff are generally expected to know what they are doing and people tend not to teach you.

I'm not sure where in Melbourne you are based but St Vincents is doing a grad year for div 2s which I'm sure would be awesome, but really any big hospital that takes you should be commited to your education and provide you with some support. My advice would be to research - talk to the hospitals and find out what kind of education or support they offer div 2s. Most hospitals have inservices etc, most will give you a certain number of days supernumary on the ward (like shadowing) when you first start - they are all good questions to ask. Ask whether they team nurse or give you your own patient load, personally as I'm training as div 1 I prefer to have my own patient load but this could be pretty daunting in an acute ward - if they are flexible that's great and it depends where you want to go with your nursing.

Are you thinking of doing your med endorsement or other further study in the future - ask whether the hospital or facility would support you in doing that whether it be financial support or just flexible rostering. Also what kind of nursing are you interested in - acute, aged, medical, surgical, paediatrics ?? What do you enhoy - the pathophsyiology and problem solving of acute or the long-term relationships of aged care. That will come into play too. Div 2s work in all sorts of acute settings, but also in aged care, community and places like the blood bank and GP practices. I think as a newly registered nurse it is important to avoid roles where you are on your own and work in some kind of ward setting, or aged care setting where there are other nurses to ask and to guide you. Whether that's a structured grad program or simply a part time or full time position is up to what suits you best.

It's natural to be terrified - you should have seen me turning up to my first shift as an agency div 2 and signing my name as (RN div2) in pt notes for the first ever time - omg I was sh8*#ng myself. That's ok your scared because you respect the nurses role and you understand the importance of caring for your patients. Remember they are paying you at Div2 Yr 1 because your are a year 1 - nurses are paid more each year to reflect their epxerience, no-one expects you to walk in and know everything on your first day.

The best bit of advice I can give you is this: if you're not sure ask! No-one expects any of us div1 or div2 to walk out of our course and be perfect, if you don't know how to do the dressing or you've never seen that type of hoist machine... whatever it is - ask. Maybe the busy nurse you ask will be grumpy for 2 seconds but better than them being grumpy for 2 hours if they have to come and fix your mistakes. Even as agency I ask, I'd rather ask and make sure the patient gets the right care - that way they can bitch about the "agency nurse" after I go but at least the patient has been looked after :)

Good luck :) let us know where you decide to go.

Oh yeah and also - whereever you do placement might have positions open so that may open doors.

:)

No worries, sounds like you know you want acute nursing experience so applying to any of the major public hospitals is a good move. Once you've got some experience on one ward you can always consider the casual nursing pool/bank at that hospital for an opportunity to rotate to other areas. St Vs sounds like a good one there's a link to their info here http://www.stvincentsmercy.com.au/careers/division_2_graduate_nurse_program.htm I think it's actually the private not the public that is running it - you may want to consider whether you want to work in a private.

Good luck with finishing off and the work search.

I'm also 28 doing nursing as my second degree but I don't have a partner or kids. Studying the accelerated Bachelor of Nursing at Uni of Melbourne - but they are now changing the whole structure to fit into the Melbourne model so it's changed a bit for the year levels below us.

I know what you mean about discrimination or rather, a lack of respect for div 2s like a feeling they aren't "real" nurses. I can see where this comes from sometimes as there are some div 2s who tend to function more as PCAs and don't really think about their patient's disease process in terms of physiology/pathophysiology etc. But having said that, there are div 1s out there who don't do more than tick the box for each task they need to do on their shift (meds, obs, showers etc) and don't really question what's going on with their patient either. It's easy to generalise by division but it's more about the individual in reality.

Some people will always have this view, the same way some doctors will always treat you as "just a nurse". But most people will judge you on your skills and outlook, if you show that you are switched on and have the ability to put two and two together with the disease process and what your patient is experiencing then I'm sure most people will judge you on that rather than your div1 / div 2 label. Plus patients generally don't know the difference between div1 / div2 - to them you are their nurse. I've found that permanent div 2s on wards generally get treated as a nurse, rather than a "div 2" because the NUM/NIC know that person and know their capabilities. But often agency div 2s get treated with caution as the NUM/NIC don't know what they're like and when it comes down to the legality of it all the div 1s carry most of the accountability for the div 2s actions. It's the same as being a student - once your buddy nurses realises you're trustworthy and capable they tend to give you more responsibility without looking over your shoulder.

The one place I never experienced this attitude to div 2s was in psych - where the whole focus of patient care is different and less focussed on meds. I found in psych (where you also have div 3) you didn't really know who was a div1 or div 2, especially if you had med endorsed div 2s because there were no IV fluids or drugs so a med endorsed div 2 could do everything a div 1 or div 3 could.

My plans - well :) they are a little scary! I've been accepted into medicine in NSW and have deferred my place to finish nursing. So I'll be moving up to NSW at the end of the year, hopefully working part-time/casual at one of the private hospitals who have said they will mentor me. I can't do a grad year because I can't commit to full-time employment, but I'm trying to avoid agency with so little experience. The public hospitals don't seem to want me without a grad year - unfortunately. I don't see why they can't be a little flexible and allow me to do it over 2 years or something but they just don't seem to want to know. Luckily the private up there seemed a little more switched on and said "well we'd prefer a grad year but we know that if we don't employ you then you'll be sent here as agency anyway" so hopefully that will work out. Grad years are all about the acknowledgement that you're new, the access to some support and completing some further learning packages - a hospital can offer that without calling it a "grad year". Anyway it's a little scary but as long as I'm employed in the one place and they understand I'm a new grad it should be fine.

EN = registered nurse division 2

EEN = registered nurse division 2 with medication endorsement

RN = registered nurse division 1

AIN = we don't have them in Vic, although I think PCAs or PCWs might be similar but they only get used in the private system/non-acute settings.

Hi Lizzie,

Medicine was an interest before i started nursing but i never thought I'd get in because I haven't got the science background for GAMSAT but last year I found out that three medical schools will accept graduates into their u/grad courses on the basis of UMAT so I sat the UMAT to see what would happen. Somehow I aced the UMAT and basically got in everywhere I applied for this year, but I'm enjoying nursing and wanted to finish (also so I have a job and something that I enjoy in case medicine doesn't work out). So I've deferred this year and I'll start next year. I didn't sit GAMSAT because I was sucessful with UMAT and I feel that it's not worth doing GAMSAT for the sake of knocking one year off the med degree (I'll be doing a five year degree) - especially considering my lack of science background as GAMSAT require organic chem, phsyics and biology at 1st year Uni level.

I'm sure nursing will help with medicine, it'll give me a basic understand to start off with but more than that I think nursing gives you such a good understanding of the patient and their holistic care. I'll be working as a nurse while I study, so hopefully that will help as well becaues I'll be exposed to more clinical situations and patients than my fellow students and I won't loose sight of the importance of basic patient care. I'm not sure nursing will help a lot with the theoretical side of things as it's so much more involved than what you learn in nursing but I'm sure it'll make a huge difference in many other ways.

For now tho, I have to focus on finishing my nursing course with the best experience, skills and knowledge that I can :)

I wonder when are EN and EEN in Queensland will be called Registered Nurse division 2. Some other state already are changed to RN division 2.

UMAT is the undergraduate medical admissions test - anyone wanting to enter medicine out of high school sits it. Visit medstudentsonline and the pagingdr forums for more info on entry into med. At the moment UWS, Newcastle and UTAS allow graduate into their u/grad courses on the basis of UMAT.

Hi Tropicana the course I am doing was the last year in Vic that they dont have the pharmacology subject included. They now consider the course a diploma and the pharmacology is all included. I missed out on that by one year so I have to try and find a medication administration course for div 2's to be able to add that qualification to my registration and become endorsed. Its really bloody annoying. Especially considering alot of places are now doing fee for service which means I have to pay about $1500 to get that instead of about $300 when it used to be subsidised. And alot of places dont offer it as a single course any more becasue it is now part of the diploma. It is a real pain in the rear not to mention confusing!!!

I will do my best to get it though.

Yeah thats what I am hoping too. Some employers do so lets hope I get lucky!!

I wish our uni would offer that for us but tbh they dont seem to really be all that interested in doing a great deal to help us which is very frustrating.

As for placements we get 9 weeks all up. Its broken up over the 18 months of the course. 2 weeks in aged care, 2 weeks in rehab, 2 weeks in psych and 3 weeks in acute. It didnt work out that well and we only get 2 weeks in acute and had to make up the extra week in aged care but at least we get something I guess.

Yeah I am thinking of doing my Div 1. I mean I have got alot out of the Div 2 but I think it would be great to be Div 1. Alot more oppotunities I think. I would like to work for 12 months and see how I feel and in the meantime add some qualifications to my Div 2 and see what I am doing by the time applications roll around next year.