Outback nursing suitable for inexperienced nurse?

[carly123]

Hi all,

I've not yet even completed my HSC, but have my heart set on becoming a nurse. Growing up in the Sydney suburbs, I've always had a fascination with the Australian outback and would love it if I could start off my career there after finishing my nursing degree at university. However, I've been told that outback nursing is not suitable for nurses fresh from uni. So, I was looking for some back-up on this statement, and was also wondering what makes rural nursing so different to city nursing (besides the remoteness)?

Thank you!

[rn/writer, RN]

It's not uncommon for bulletin boards like this one to have bogus members join in order to sell things or recruit people. The perpetrators are usually savvy enough to know they'll get bounced if they do it in the public threads, so they do it behind the scenes via the PM system.

The 15-post hurdle keeps about 95% of this from happening. Most of the scammers just give up and go away. The few that figure out the requirement tip their hands by making lots of one- or two-word posts that don't contribute much.

Nurses are an attractive bunch to people hawking knock-off shoes, fake jewelry, time shares, electronics, etc. They think we're all loaded with easy cash. The joke's on them, but that doesn't stop them from trying.

Anyway, that's why we have the 15-post threshold.

[Ellie10]

Hi Carly.

When choosing an uni, why don't you choose one which allows you to do a rural prac? Many offer it as a 4-8 week elective. Hopefully this will give you an idea whether this is something you want to do or not :-)

Living in the outback is really very different to in the big city! Over your uni summer holidays maybe you could look at getting a job in a country pub or on a cattle station or fruit picking - something of the like. These sort of jobs might give you a feel for country life even before doing a rural prac. You can often find jobs advertised on gumtree.

And remember, you don't have to be rural rural to still get the rural experience. Where I'm from in QLD, Townsville, Rocky, Mackay, Mt Isa, Toowoomba all give a taste of the rural experience while still being decent sized towns. I'm sure there are lots of similar places in NSW where you could do a GNP... and then build up to the real rural if that is what you are after. And yes, midwifery is neceessary if you want to be the only nurse in town. You can do a diploma of midwifery usually which takes one year, after graduating as an RN.

Good luck whatever you decide.