Best Melbourne Grad Program?

col3 · Feb 4, 2009

Hi Claz...

Im in NSW, but did my degree with girls (and guys) from all over Oz. It is my understanding that Public hospitals now pretty much offer the same program. In NSW you apply online to the health area and then list your preferences of hospitals. From their u usually get an interview at the first preference- if knocked back u may get an offer at your second preference. Go to the Victorian Nurses Board site to find exact instruction as to what u need to apply here and be aware that the uni u attend here may not accept the units you have already done and you may need to repeat. This is common changing from one uni to another- even with in Australia- and drives many students to despair! Maybe our new National Registralion (which begins next year) will force unis to run the same program and simplify the whole process!

I am working next to a UK girl who is on her new grad program and she is coping well, I believe she is still awaiting a visa that she thought would be here by now but she must have a certain time clearance. If I see her I shall try and get her to come here and offer any suggestions.

Good luck,

Colleen

gogirlgo · Feb 5, 2009

Have you discovered the Post Graduate Medical Council of Victoria website which has the graduate nurse match. A bit like applying for a place at uni I guess. http://computermatching.pmcv.com.au/public/howto/index.cfm

You will need to check and see whether you are eligible to apply this way or not. If you cant apply do not despair as in 2008 there were plenty of unmatched positions.

In terms of best programs, as a general observation the large public hospitals seem to be more popular than the private hospitals.

Good luck!

Claz403 · Feb 5, 2009

Hi, Thanks very much for your replies.

I will be finished my degree by the time I get back to Australia, and the NBV have confirmed that they'll accept my qualification, as it is the equivalent to the Australian degree, so that's positive. Also, I am eligible for PMCV because I'm an Australian citizen. So it's all looking promising so far! From what I've seen elsewhere on this site, the public hospitals do appear to more popular, I wonder why that is? More support? More variety?

Colleen, it would be interesting to know how your friend is finding it, is there much difference between the countries? Did she find that she had any knowledge gaps? This is something that concerns me, as I know that the Australian degree is much more theory based, whereas the UK one has more practical time. So it would be interesting to know.

Has anyone else out there been on the program at St V's or The Royal Melbourne? Any pros/cons?

Thanks very much

Claire

gogirlgo · Feb 5, 2009

One of the advantage of Victorian public hospitals vs private hospitals is that you will have less patients to look after, generally a maximum of 4 in a public hospital. When you are first starting out and not very efficient this is very attractive!

Claz403 · Feb 5, 2009

Yes, that is great! Here in Edinburgh it's 1:6, but that's only if you're lucky!

allnurses Guide · Feb 5, 2009

Def go with the hospital that has the most specialties available, as well as the one with the most support/structure and convenience for you.

You'll get more exposure to specialties at a big public hospital - eg. I got a rotation in ICU in my grad year and never left! We had classes one day a week, and a lot of clinical educator support. Of course you have time management issues, but apart from that I didn't have too many problems.

I wouldn't work at St V's or RMH because it would be a pain to get to work in the city every day for me.

talaxandra · Feb 5, 2009

I haven't worked with any UK nurses doing their grad years here but any number of Kiwi and the odd nurse from Asia (primarily the Philipines, Hong King and one from mainland China) - the latter seemed to find the cultural change more significant than the professional differences.

Different hospitals have different numbers of ward rotations, either three (I think), four or six month placements (great if you want a variety of experience or hate the first ward you land on), and the Alfred has one (great is you want to consolidate your experience or get a ward you love).

scarah · Feb 6, 2009

Hi Claire,

I've just finished my nursing degree in Melb and did placements at both RMH and St Vs. I've got friends at both now who have just started or are just starting their grad programs. Both are excellent tertiary referral hospitals with very similar ranges of specialties and wards. They are some of the busiest hospitals in Melbourne and both have excellent graduate programs offering two rotations of 6 months each. The orientation and supernumery days are practically identical and in fact, the friends I have at both are all loving it.

Differences between the hospitals include: RMH is a trauma centre, St Vincents is not. So RMH get trauma cases from all over Victoria included car accidents, gun shot and stab wounds etc etc. No depending on what wards you get this will make no difference to you but if you end up on the ortho/trauma or plastics/trauma unit at RMH it'll be different to the ortho unit or plastics/ENT unit at St Vincents.

Another difference is that while St Vincent's is a 'public hospital' it's actually run by the Sister of Charity and not so much the governement meaning the funding is different. Now I felt that St Vincents was less well resourced than RMH for example the neurosurg unit at RMH has HDU beds with a 1:2 nurse to patient ratio. Neurosurg at St Vincents has no funding for HDU beds so all patients are nursed 1:4 even tho they are probably just as sick.

The other major difference is RMH has ward-based educators of the grad nurse program. That means mon-fri 9-5 there is at least one education on your ward, who will be build a relationship with you and make sure you're ok. St Vincents do not have ward based educators but have a number of educators to cover the whole of the GNP (grad Nurse program) this probably means less educator time and less chance to individually build relationships with the educators.

Overall RMH is a slightly more laid back hospital, uniforms seem a little more optional (although I think they are trying to change this) and everyone seems a bit more friendly. St Vincent's on the other hand seems to have a bit more of the "excellence" culture, best practice and further education are the norm.

On placement I preferred RMH and had I stayed in Melb they would have been my first preference for grad program, however St Vincents is also great and other people preferred that hospital over RMH. Whichever way you put them down I would advise having both on your preference list and I'd be happy with either!

I don't know where you're planning on living in Melbourne but other options are the Alfred (major difference is they only do one 12 month rotation so hopefully you get something good!). The Austin - I've had little to do with them but I worked one agency shift there and very much liked the feel. The Western health group (Footscray is ok, I would steer clear of Sunshine as it's limited in options). Out in the eastern burbs Monash Med Centre is excellent but really only worthwhile if you live in the area as it's a long way out.

It all depends where you want to go with nursing. I mean if you have a particular interest then that could influence your decision. For instance some people in my course want to do midwifery later on so they went for the Royal Womens, others went to the Royal Childrens...

Good luck with your decision and I woudln't worry too much - Victoria is great place to be nursing and either St Vincents or RMH will be great.

Claz403 · Feb 6, 2009

Thank you so much for your detailed reply! This is such a good forum! Yes, I had considered The Alfred, but do prefer the idea of have 2 rotations in the year, to get a bit of variation. Thank you everyone. I have to admit, the RMH is looking more attractive all the time!

rednalexa · Apr 8, 2009

Hi Claire,

I completed my Bachelor last year in NZ & relocated to Melbourne beginning of this year. I was successful in gaining a spot on the RMH grad program & am loving it. Excellent support, great learning opportunities & fantastic rotations. I have a clinical support nurse or clinical educator visit me daily (providing im on an early or late shift) to check that i'm doing okay, they help out whenever you need them to. They are, as i think i read someone else say, always on the ward so are there when you need them. If they aren't there, they have pagers so will be there or call asap. Everyone is really approachable, fun to work with & answer questions no matter how stupid they seem.

From what I have heard, most of the major hospitals here are pretty good for new grad programs so whatever one you chose will give you a great start to your career. I do recommend the RMH, It's not just a place i would do my new grad year, it's somewhere I would consider staying long term. All the best with the last year of your study :)

Sarah xx

mickhing · Jul 27, 2009

Gday Claire,

I did my grad year last year at st v's and found it great. I only realise now having moved on to other hospitals how well run st v's is, although i am working in wa and it's a bit backwards here. The rotations are great, i got renal and ed, loved ed, the educators down there are fantastic aswell as the staff. In regards to v's RMH, I would say that if u like trauma then rmh would be the place to be cos its one of only 3 trauma recieving hospitals in victoria (the others being alfred and royal childrens). Personally i'd give the alfred a miss cos its one 12 month rotation and if u miss out on the rotation u want and score rehab your screwed!ha, unless u like rehab that is. I think st v's is a great place to start nursing, the educators are great, orientation program is thorough and the doctors and other staff are all cool. Plus st v's is right next to brunswick st, good for a few beers after work. Good luck with it. Mick