May 17, 2010, 10:28 pm
Hello there,
I can only speak on the coast but RN work with Agency can take you on a diverse course and if you do RN's in Aged Care facilities, well, you are going to be very busy indeed. It is so unlike hospital work in that you give medications to whole wings/wards of people and do the trouble shooting on the shift. Sometimes you could be responsible for a whole building/facility if you are the only RN.
Here on the Sunshine Coast, I did Agency RN work for a year....until about 2 1/2 years ago. I wouldn't get a lot of work in Aged Care places now though; the Homes are loath to pay out for Agency staff much less the big bickies for an Agency RN. The facilities often make do and have their own staff do double shifts and so on. Cheaper.
At the end of the day Aged Care is less technical and usually only strike say Grasby pumps or different PEG Feeds and this type of thing.
I was able to manage with little acute experience as an RN but I'd had a lot as a EN years ago in NZ.
So in the end, ring a few agencies and see what they want and have to say. You need only be able to medication give out and at the end of the day, have good communication skills, good ability to work autonomously and be able to quickly adapt to cope with unfamiliar buildings, staff and residents.
For the year I did ANgency it was good; I needed to be out of the politics. I am now back in one setting and making that important difference to older ppl's lives.
