[GreenEyes48]

Hello,

I am presently studying for my Enrolled Nurse qualification. I started in February 07 and will finish in July 08. What I am doing is called a Diploma of Nursing which is actually the first year of a Bachelor of Nursing. So, if I wanted to gain my RN certificate at a later date, I would only need to do 2 more years and not 3. I won't be doing that because I am

59 years young

!

Enrolled Nurses are highly sort after in Australia. With the mountains of paper work RNs are required to do these days, ENs are acquiring more and more responsibilities. There are many courses available to ENs after they complete the course and we can specialise in things such as wound care, palliative care, operating theatre - just about any area. Gone are the days where ENs only do showers, empty bed pans, change beds - our scope of practice is so much wider now. And we have the respect of RNs too!

We do have limitations to our scope of practice such as we are not permitted to administer drugs such as morphine, we cannot give injections to children and we do work under the direction of an RN. It is possible, once one has gained years of experience, to be accredited to 'work unsupervised' as an EN.

The class that preceded mine were all employed within a week of graduation and it is expected my class will be the same. My plan is to work through an agency. Because I have an elderly husband whose health is not always tip-top, I cannot commit to anything permanent. Agency work will suit me because when he is well I can work; when he's not, I won't. There are 3 hospitals and 10 aged care facilities within 30 miles of my home - work will be plentiful.

Cheers
GreenEyes48

[TheCommuter]

Welcome to our online community!

[veyron]

Hi! From where and what school did you study as an enrolled nurse? Can a international student (me) apply in your school? Cz i wanna be a enrolled nurse someday.

[GreenEyes48]

Originally Posted by veyron

Hi! From where and what school did you study as an enrolled nurse? Can a international student (me) apply in your school? Cz i wanna be a enrolled nurse someday.

I am studying through TAFE (South Australia) but there are many training facilities available for ENs. I'm not sure about international students - there aren't any in my class.

It is a very competitive training program to get into at TAFE. When I applied there were 325 applicants for 22 places.

Some training facilities are better than others. For example TAFE is 18 months full time (2 days on site and the rest at home) while other facilities are 6 months part time. Given that nurses deal with people's lives, I think one needs the best training possible and I'm not sure if that is possible with some of these short programs.

I've heard that, if an employer has the choice of two ENs (one TAFE trained and one trained elsewhere) they will take the TAFE trained EN every time.

In the class that graduated before mine, all students were employed within 2 weeks of graduation and registration.

Hope that helps.

[veyron]

That was very helpful, thanks. May I know how much will I have to pay for the tuition?

[GreenEyes48]

Originally Posted by veyron

That was very helpful, thanks. May I know how much will I have to pay for the tuition?

It varies by training provider and can be up to Au$6,0000. Then there are books, travelling and other expenses on top. I think TAFE is the cheapest and they allow concessions in certain circumstances but these are not available for non-citizens.

You'd need to look at the visa options first as requirements for entry can be very strict. I suspect that Australia would not be eager to grant a study visa or study place to an overseas student for nursing because we have such a desperate shortage of nurses.

It is my understanding that Australian students seeking nursing places are selected because there it would be silly to train a nurse only to have them return to their own country. We need them here therefore training institutions are inclined to favour Australian students.

[Charligirl]

Hi!
I am a 37 year old Mother of 3, 1 of which is still at home with me apart from a couple of days at Kindy. I live on the Gold Coast and after 7 years at home I am thinking of returning to the work force. I was thinking of doing Midwifery but after some long hard consideration I felt 3 years at Uni was not fair on my young Family, so I am now considering going to Tafe to become an Endorsed Enrolled Nurse. I would LOVE to speak to anyone doing this course or have done it and now is working in this field. My Sister is a RN in Brisbane and she keeps telling me not to. What are your thought. Thumbs or. Charligirl

[Charligirl]

Hi GreenEyes48
I was thrilled to read your post. I have been battling making the decision to go and study again to be an Endorsed Enrolled Nurse. Congratulations and good on you for going to do this for yourself. I am 37 and I always thought I was to old to go back to Tafe. You have made up my mind for me and if there is any tips that you have for me I would greatly appreciate them. Cheers Charligirl.

[GreenEyes48]

Hello,

I have some hints for you. I am at the stage where all I have left to do is my final practical assessment at TAFE (14th May) then I go on clinical placement at a hospital 19th May to July 2nd.

This is not an easy course but, in my view, it is certainly well worth the effort. You will need to be very disciplined in your approach to your study, you will need to become quite selfish in that you really do need to allocate a lot of time to your course, if you aren't an organised person then you need to become one, and discipline is imperative. My girlfriends complain that I've been neglecting them ... I tell them not to feel bad because I've neglected everyone over the last 18 months! :-)

I managed and I have all the advantages of not working, not having any children at home, having a husband who is retired and therefore able to take over a certain amount of household stuff (the washing, the dishes, other chores) and there were times where I struggled to meet assignment deadlines.

I was in school all day Tuesday and Wednesday so Monday I would cook enough dinners for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was my full study day where I would put in anything up to 10 hours. I did part days on Monday, Saturday and Friday. Sunday was the day where school books were off limits, it was a full day devoted to my husband, a day where I veged out and didn't even bother to get dressed if I didn't feel like it.

If you have a room you can set up as a study, do it. If not, set up a corner in the lounge, family room or somewhere that you can have all your study materials in the one place.

A laptop is a good idea if you can afford one. I found I could then sit in the lounge at night with my husband. I could do work and be with him rather than secreted away in my study at the other end of our house.

Say 'no' and mean it when you have to. A diary is a must. I set up a wall chart in my study that had colums for 'what has to be done', date it is due, date it was submitted or completed and as I completed tasks, I highlighted them out. I am proud to say that I never had to ask for an extension and all assignments were handed up on time.

If you go through TAFE you will get Learning Guides for each unit and these have activities to complete. I made up a table for the front of the Learning Guide showing each activity (1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc) and as I completed them, I highlighted them out. That way I always knew where I was and how many I had to do. It is an excellent idea to set up a roster type thing with what you plan to complete each week ... that way you know exactly where you are all the time.

Not sure if I have said this before but prior to the Diploma in Nursing I did a Bachelor of Arts by distance learning. It took me from November 02 to May 06 to complete but I have to say the EN was harder and more stressful.

Not sure where your sister in law is coming from with her opinion. In SA ENs are in high demand, are well respected, are treated very well and their job opportunities are wide ranging ... hospitals, aged care, community nursing, mental health, medical centres, day surgery centres to name but a few. Some of the students in our class have received job offers already based on their aged care placement back in November. Nursing homes are desperate for ENs here.

I have already registered with the agency I am going to work through. I will do some aged care personal carer work to get into the swing of working again then change over to EN status in July.

Go for it! It is well worth the time, money and effort.

If I can help, I'm greeneyes41048@gmail.com

Regards
Liz

[redrecks]

Hi CharliGirl
You can contact me at redrecks@hotmail.com
I have only 3 weeks left on my EEN course with Spencer TAFE left.
But on Sat I am back in SA for my last three weeks on acute placement.
I have loved my course and are happy to chat to you.
Wendy