australian / adelaide nurses?

[aussiemags]

Hi there,

I'm new to allnurses (have taken ages to work out how to make this site work). I'm currently working in Adelaide as an agency nurse,and am wondering if there are many other australian or adelaide nurses on line?

[bunnymolly]

Hello to all Nurses in Australia from Brisbane Queensland. Boy it took me a good while to figure out have to use the forum. Hope to hear from someone from Brisbane!

[Grace Oz]

welcome to allnurses, bunnymolly!

[vivek105]

G'day! Yes, I'm in Adelaide. Now retired. :monkeydance: Did agency in my final couple of years before pulling the plug. It can be good. Has it's downside sometimes though. Hope you visit allnurses often! You'll meet lots of lovely folks here! ENJOY!

Hi Grace

Could you write a short note on the advantages and disadvantages of agency nurses.

Do agencies prefer only exprienced nurses? Or do they hire nurses with as little as 1-2 years of exp?

Do agency nurses get paid more than staff nurses?

What kind of work do agency nurses get?

I am sure that your wisdom and experience would be of great use to members of this forum.

:)

Have a good day!!

[vivek105]

Thanx everyone. It is really hard trying to find places as you all know, in a town/city you don't know. My dream would be to buy an old mechanically sound bus, turn it into a mobile home, toss the dogs and cat (oops and husband) and travel/work around Oz....

Hello Tiwi

So are you living your Australian dream of traveling in a tralier with no husband or cats or dogs??

:)

Keep ticking

[smilenurse]

Hello to all australian nurses. It is great to hear that there are Adelaide Nurses but I am wondering if there are any Brisbane Nurses here also

[Scrubby]

I'm also an Adelaide nurse, work in theatres at the RAH. good to see other SA nurses here :)

[Grace Oz]

hi grace

could you write a short note on the advantages and disadvantages of agency nurses.

i shall endeavour to! :)

do agencies prefer only exprienced nurses? or do they hire nurses with as little as 1-2 years of exp?

you need to understand, i'm now a retired nurse, 5+ years. so, things are changing since i last worked. however, i shall share with you what i know from my experience, ok? :) .... if you're wanting to do acute care, many agencies require that you have at least 2 years recent experience in acute care. most of the health facilities using agency nurses make this a condition of hiring from any one particular agency. i know this is still the 'norm' today as well, so nothing's changed there. :)

i'm sorry i'm unable to advise you about nursing home work or other specialities. the best advice i can give you there would be to phone a few agencies and make enquiries as to their requirements. agencies differ from state to state and agency to agency. bottom line though: you must be registered or enrolled in the state in which you wish to practise. you must have a current practising certificate. your competencies must be up to date and current. you will need to provide references. a police check will be done, (in most agencies anyway).

do agency nurses get paid more than staff nurses?

that all depends on your speciality. ie; midwife etc. agency nursing usually pays higher wages than health facilities due to the nature of the work; casual as opposed to permanent. the wages have annual leave, sick leave etc etc factored into them, hence the higher wage.

what kind of work do agency nurses get?

this question is a bit ambiguous, but i shall attempt to give you an answer and hope it helps with your query. agencies employ staff to provide nurses to most healthcare facilities. the healthcare facility requests the agency to provide a nurse according to the requirements of the facility. for example, a maternity hospital may require a midwife. an acute care faciltiy a nurse experienced in surgical/medical nursing. a nursing home a nurse with aged care experience/expertise. and then there are times whereby a client requests a nurse to do domicillary care/home health.

as an agency nurse i've done everything from acute care, home health, nursing home, you name it! crikey, i even filled in at a childcare centre once when the agency got desperate and needed someone to meet the clients need for staff! desperate times require desperate measures! lol i had a fun day that day! :balloons: the kids were gorgeous and it added some interest to my resume! lol to 'succeed' in agency nursing, i found it best to be flexible! :) but to be fair, that was easy for me being the age i was and the years of experience behind me by the time i did agency nursing.

the advantages in agency nursing for me were;

choose my own schedule.

accept or decline offers according to my own preferances.

the money! lol

the variety and challenges which accompany agency work compared to being permanently employed in one place, were for me, enjoyable. i pretty much get along easily with people and am happy to jump in and work hard.

not work weekends, holiday's, etc etc, if i chose not to! :)

also, by working agency, you get a good insight into places and come to know just where you don't want to work! lol

those are just some of the advantages. i'm sure there's plenty more but time is passing and i'm a slow typist! lol

the disadvantages:

last minute callouts or worse still, last minute cancellations. you're depending on the money! :angryfire

sometimes getting the raw deal in terms of patient load. this is where experience comes in handy. you just show 'em what you're made of! and leave them wondering how the heck did she do that??!!! lol suddenly you're their new best friend! lol

not being permanently employed. no guarantee's you'll always get work. though in today's nursing world, that's less likely to happen! but i wouldn't want to be trying to pay a mortgage for example. you need guaranteed income for that!

not feeling a sense of belonging at the particular place.

oddly enough, in some places, sometimes treated with resentment or disdain. again, this is where being experienced comes in handy. you give as good as you get or better! lol

mostly though, my own experiences were very positive. i was always asked back to the places i went. they often requested the agency to book me ahead of time and i'd sometimes have a few weeks solid work in one place. that's a postive! :)

sometimes you might need to accept work far from home.

while you're able to choose your shifts etc, you do need to be fair to the agency and co-operate and sometimes take shifts you'd rather not. show willingness and goodwill.

missing out on educational opportunities which permanent employment in a hospital/health facility might afford. while agencies do offer some educational opportunites, my experience was that it's not as great as in the permanent employment/attached to a facility, situation. hope this makes sense! lol

again, there's more i could share, but ditto to what i wrote above! lol

i hope this goes someway towards answering your questions. :)

i am sure that your wisdom and experience would be of great use to members of this forum.

:)

have a good day!!

you have a good day too!

cheers.............

[Grace Oz]

oooppsss! sorry, vivek, you asked for short answers, didn't you???!!!!! lol

[vivek105]

oooppsss! sorry, vivek, you asked for short answers, didn't you???!!!!! lol

\\

hi grace - not that long.

i could read lots more

this is really informative!!

feel free to add.

i am sure all the users will agree

warm regards

vivek

[smilenurse]

Hello to allnurses ! I have not heard from any Brisbane Nurse yet. Are there any Brisbane Nurses here? Well I guess I am the only one from Brisbane !!!!!!!!!

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

I am from Brisbane - just haven't been on the board much lately:p

[smilenurse]

Glad to hear from you gwenith that you are brisbane. Now I do not feel alone at allnurse in brisbane. I am on the south side. Gwenith just wondering what side are you from?

Hope to hear from more brisbane allnurses here :welcome:

Cheers :balloons:smilenurse