Melbourne Hospitals

talaxandra · Jan 11, 2008

Potential bias warning - I've only worked at one hospital, the one I trained at back in the late 1980's/early 1990's. It's the hospital I prefer to be treated in, recommend my friends attend, and absolutely the hospital I'd most prefer to work at.

However I have a lot of friends and colleagues who've worked all over. Based on that I'd say that no (major public) hospital stands out as being particularly difficult or bad to work in. The recent industrial action saw unprecedented bullying and harrassment of nurses by admin across the state, and some hospitals (particularly Monash) were notably worse than others - you could take that as something of an indicator of how supportive senior management are.

I think it has at least as much to do with the individual ward as the hospital itself. Ratios are in force everywhere, so the workload should be fairly equitable, but you could ask about skill mix to get an indication.

Keep in mind that Royal Melbourne gets the cream of Melbourne Uni's med students, and the Alfred gets Monash's, and they have the highest acuity and the state's trauma centre, helipads etc.

Feel free to IM about the actual hospital you're applying to if you like, and if I know anything specific I'll let you know! Hope this helps.

meli_meli · Aug 15, 2008

Hi talaxandra

I've just joined allnurses and was reading your reply and would LOVE some advice on the Melbourne hospitals topic.

I have just finished my interviews for 4 major public hospitals in Melbourne and am so confused about what to put as my first preference.

My number one choice is somewhere I have heard may not be the most supportive which worries me as it was also mentioned in your reply here.

Am I able to ask on here the names of hospitals you think are supportive of their graduates?

I would really like to try paediatrics without limiting myself to the Royal Childrens.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

allnurses Guide · Aug 15, 2008

Perhaps if you mention the hospitals in question, people who've worked at them may have input.

meli_meli · Aug 15, 2008

Thank-you, I wasn't quite sure whether it was ok to mention names on here.

I am interested in cardiothoracics and paediatrics so I am looking at Monash Medical Centre as my number one choice as it has 2 paediactric wards plus cardiothoracics whereas other hospitals only have a small childrens ward or none at all.

Austin Health is my second choice, I love this hospital, I have my lectures there and all my third year acute placements there so I am familiar with it but they only have a 12 bed paed ward so I thought this would be limiting opportunities hence why I put Monash above it.

I am not as familiar with Monash as I am with Austin, I have heard mixed things about the support offered to graduates at Monash.

I would love if anybody working in these facilities could give me some information about which hospitals they have worked in and why or why not to go there.

My third and fourth preferences are The Alfred and Box Hill.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

:nurse:

talaxandra · Aug 16, 2008

I did my mid placement at MMC a hundred years ago and found the staff generally supportive. Two friends/colleagues recently transferred there as well (one because it's closer to home, one as part of an additional qualification), and both report liking the staff and atmosphere; one's four years out (with a psych background) and one's a Div 2 doing his Div 1, so not grads. The paeds ward's certainly substantial, with a lot of adult alternatives if you find you don't enjoy paeds as much as you anticipate.

Friends who've worked at the Austin have had mixed responses, but that's pretty par for the course, and I don't know anyone who's worked at Box Hill (it used to have something of a dodgy rep but that was a long time ago). The Alfred generates quite a bit of loyalty, and - as far as I know - is the only Melbourne hospital that combines you're interestes, by doing paediatric heart transplants. I'd have thought that was tricky in a non-paeds hospital, but what do I know :)

I hope that helps a bit. Keep in mind that your grad year is just a foundation - you've got your whole career to specialise, so even if you end up somewhere without cardiothorasics or paeds (or somewhere that has them but doesn't rotate you through) it won't be a total write-off. And there is something to be said for doing your grad year where you're already familiar with the layout, paperwork and minutiae (like how to page) - less new stuff to remember and process.

Hope that helps - good luck :)

joannep · Aug 17, 2008

Hi everyone,

When looking at where to work my number one question is parking.

Is there onsite parking, where is it, and how much is it going to cost me.

Parking varies a huge amount, not every hospital has parking.

Some have limited parking and you go into a waiting list that can take years to get a park.

Others have parking that cost a huge amount.

allnurses Guide · Aug 17, 2008

Well, I'm a CTICU nurse that worked at the Alfred for several years until last year. I can highly recommend both the stepdown cardiothoracic ward, the SICU and the CCU. There is a high volume of cardiac case, the opportunity to care for IABPs and VADs, as well as fresh postop hearts. There is an incredible support system for new nurses, with clinical support and development staff on all wards, and an intense orientation program for new ICU nurses.

There is onsite parking, public transport. You can do 8 or 10hr shifts on the wards and 12hr shifts in ICU.

No paeds, except for some lung transplants.

talaxandra · Aug 17, 2008

No paeds, except for some lung transplants.

Sorry, my bad :)

meli_meli · Aug 18, 2008

Thanks everyone. I find it really helpful to hear some opinions from people who have actually worked at facilities rather than just be promoting it.

Of course I realise that when it comes down to it it is my decision so I will be having a bit of a think until the cut off date of 25th Sept whether I want to rearrange my preferences.

At the moment I think I will leave Monash as first and Austin, Alfred next. It's so hard to choose, but as talaxandra said, I have my whole career to specialise so I will put Monash first as it offers the greatest range of areas, is the closest to my home, and the parking is reasonable for a large public hospital.

Hoping the support side of the program is enough for me, because at the moment I feel so far away from being able to have my own patients to care for alone! I will get there eventually though!

talaxandra · Aug 18, 2008

If it's any help, it's not just you - almost evey grad feels underprepared and unready. It's usually the ones that don't I keep an extra close eye on.

You've got a little time to go - if you've got more clinicals ask to take on a slightly larger load than you feel comfortable with, as time management is the single biggest stress when you start out. Once you've got a handle on that the rest slots into place. Good luck :)