Graduate Nurse Program

Grampians Health Horsham is the major teaching health service provider for the Wimmera and Southern-Mallee region. It has excellent acute and sub-acute inpatient facilities and provides care across a vast range of health disciplines including emergency, medical, surgical, midwifery, paediatrics, intensive care, operating theatre, day procedure unit, dialysis and day oncology unit over two campuses. The health service has 80 acute beds, 20 sub-acute beds, 132 bed nursing home and hostel across both campuses.

Program Structure

The Graduate Nurse program comprises of three intakes each year (January, April and June) with a total of graduates. Registered Nurse RN's and Dual Degree (Midwifery).

Graduate nurses are employed on a permanent contract, the first 54 weeks as a participant in the Graduate Nurse program. Employment for this is a minimum 0.8 EFT to 1.0 EFT. Two weeks annual leave is designated to each graduate in the middle of the program. In extenuating circumstances annual leave may be negotiated. The program consists of both a theoretical and practical component both of which have been developed in response to the specific learning needs of graduate nurses.

Objectives

• Provide an opportunity for the graduate nurse to consolidate and integrate nursing knowledge into practice.
• Facilitate reflective practice developing a clinical judgement skill set.
• Support the graduate nurse to progressively fulfil the contemporary role of a Registered Nurse, while maintaining the optimal work/life balance.
• Promote the personal and professional development of the graduate nurse.

Clinical

The clinical component includes rotations that are three or six months in length. This means the graduate may have three or four rotations in their graduate nurse year.

Rotations may include:

• Oxley – Medical/Surgical, Oncology, Rehabilitation and Psychiatry. Each graduate will spend three or six months in this area. This placement provides a sound clinical foundation on which to develop skills and knowledge.
• Wyuna - Rehabilitation, GEM, TCP patients. Graduates will spend three months in this area. This placement involves working with the multidisciplinary healthcare team to provide positive patient outcomes.
• Yandilla – Medical/surgical, adults and paediatrics, obstetrics, midwifery and gynaecology. Graduates spend a period of three months in this area. This area assists the graduate to not only consolidate general skills, it also provides some insight into midwifery and enables the graduate to develop a specialised skill set when working with paediatric patients and their families.
• Theatre: Graduates spend three months in theatre, rotating through operating suite, day procedure unit and recovery. This rotation enables the graduate to gain insight into the peri-operative specialty and gain specialised skills and knowledge.
• Emergency Department: Graduates spend three months in ED. This placement builds on clinical knowledge and skills. It equips the graduate with acute assessment and clinical management skills as well as providing the graduate with some insight into the specialty of critical care.
• District Nursing: Graduates spend three months in District Nursing. This rotation enables the graduate to gain insight into wound management, continence assessment and hospice nursing.

Preferences and requests are considered when planning the graduate's rotations.

Theoretical

The theoretical component comprises of a five day orientation block at the commencement of each program and eight study days throughout the program. The study days address the identified clinical needs of the graduate nurse.

For each rotation, the Graduate Nurse will have prepared learning goals to achieve.

Assessment

Graduates are encouraged clinically through personal and professional development plans. They will also be encouraged to undertake skills not yet fully developed during their undergraduate training.

Clinical support

Program Educators: Facilitate the delivery and co-ordination of the program, evaluate the program, facilitate clinical support for graduate nurses and assist the graduate to acquire skills and knowledge.

The extra level of support provided by two dedicated GNP Co-ordinators shows our commitment to the development of graduate nurses.

Preceptors: In each placement the graduate nurse is allocated a preceptor for the duration of the rotation.

Unit Managers: Monitor the progress of the graduate nurse during the clinical placement and offer support to the graduate when required.

Clinical Support Nurse: Assists and supports graduate nurse to acquire skills and knowledge.

Clinical Teachers: Grampians Health Horsham has clinical teachers throughout the acute and residential services to provide support for all team members.

Group Debriefing Sessions: Group debriefing sessions are held on a regular basis. They provide a forum for the graduate nurse to discuss any issues relating to any aspect of the program. Some of these sessions are combined with preceptors to enable the preceptor and the graduate nurse to complete bookwork and discuss the graduate nurse's progress.

Eligibility criteria

Registered nurses and dual degree (Midwifery) nurses who have completed a Bachelor of Nursing or Applied Science (Nursing) who are registered with AHPRA as a Registered General Nurse or Midwife and who have less than one year of experience in an acute general setting and are eligible to use the Allocation and Placement Service (APS) on PMCV.

Application process

Grampians Health participates in the PMCV Allocation and Placement Service process for all graduate nurse vacancies. Applicants should list Grampians Health Horsham campus as one of their preferences when applying on PMCV applications.

Applicants also need to apply directly to Grampians Health E-Recruit nominating the campus for which they are applying.

The application should include:

• a letter of introduction
• a brief CV
• academic transcripts up to year 3 semester 1

Each year we have an information afternoon. On this day we undertake a tour of the hospital, provide an overview of the program, answer questions and provide afternoon tea. It is a great opportunity for the prospective graduate nurse to have a look around, ask questions and meet some preceptors, nursing executive and past and present graduate nurses. Please contact us for the date and time of the open day and to register your attendance.

Where to after the Graduate year

Grampians Health provides ongoing employment for its graduate nurses at the end of the program. Rotations to specialty areas, or departments not included in the program are occasionally offered on successful completion of the GNP.

The organisation has strong relationships with Deakin University (Melbourne) and the University of Ballarat and offers academic and financial support for staff wishing to pursue Post Graduate studies in:

• Critical Care
• Perioperative Nursing
• Midwifery
• Gerontology
• Oncology
• Rehabilitation
• Acute Nursing.

The hospital also provides educational programs for nurses and is supportive of the development of all team members.

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