JoMc

Thank you - have now printed off the allowances from the ANF website. The allowances certainly make the (fairly average) hourly rate more attractive. I think I will frame my first payslip - for me it represents my achievement even more than my final certificate does!

I have tried looking on the ANF Victoria website for the pay scale and allowances paid to Victorian nurses but can't find the details I want (perhaps due to the recent negotiations on pay rates) I am a new graduate and get my VERY FIRST nursing pay packet this week (how exciting) but wondered where I could get hold of a list of 'allowances' as I have so many questions....eg. Do you get paid extra for working Saturday's and Sunday's? Do you get an allowance for doing a Late followed by an Early? etc etc. Any responses would be most appreciated...cheers Jo

Just an update for all those kind people who replied to my first message....I DID get a grad year! And I got my first preference to boot. Still in shocked but very relieved and can't wait to start. Again, thanks for all those who took the time to reply - I'm sure your wise counsel will be of benefit to other soon-to-graduate nurses. Cheers Jo

Thanks to all those of you who took the time to reply. 24 hours to go till grad places are released and I'll take it from there. Thanks JoanneP for the advice re sending resume and clinical placement reports to hospitals - your advice has made me think a bit more rationally today about a course of action if I am unsuccessful. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!:bowingpur

Hi Scrubby thanks for replying and thanks for your much needed words of encouragement! We are given 4 preferences and 2 of mine were to the same organisation so in effect, I have 3 chances. There is no doubt that this year in Victoria hundreds of grads will miss out also as the figures just don't add up, so I was keen to hear from grads who had missed out and perhaps they could provide some good advice as to how to then go about getting your career off the ground - as I mentioned, there does not seem to be ANY jobs advertised for Div 1 Grade 1 nurses... Thanks again, Jo

Hi there, Im a 3rd yr nursing student (in Victoria, Australia) and am eagerly awaiting for the grad year offers to come out on Monday. However, I really need to give some thought to what happens to those graduates who do not get offered a position. I have searched through literally hundreds of job sites and found only advertisements for Div 1 Grade 2's (no Grade 1 jobs). Anyone out there missed out on a place and if so, how did you go about getting work in your first year out, and what was your experience? Any replies would be gratefully received right now as I am convinced I am going to miss out and just preparing for the worse case scenario! Thanks so much, Jo

Don't be scared. Doing your Div 1 at Uni is not that hard. You don't need to be a brainiac but what you do need is drive, motivation and be able to prioritise your workload which it sounds like you are doing at the moment in your life now bringing your son up etc. Go for it! I was a Div 2 and decided to bite the bullet and do my Div 1 and now that ive nearly finished, I cant believe a) how fast its gone and b) why I stressed over the decision so much - its not that hard. Good luck with your decision.

there are a couple of pro's and con's for both options. i had to do my cert iv just to get into uni and so spent 1 yr doing that at tafe. i was then accepted into uni and was given the first six months off in credit for having my div 2. however, doing your div 2 really does give you some great basic skills - personal care, showering, feeding, transferring, using lifting equipment etc and although this is covered in uni, it is in my opinion rushed over and you are not taught these very basic but important skills properly. i keep referring back to my div 2 teaching when i need to call on these skills. once you have completed your second year of uni, you can in fact apply to become a div 2. so if you go directly to uni, you could work as a pca and then a div 2 from begining of your third year. apart from getting the fist six months credit for uni, i also got given credits for 1 elective subject per semester and let me tell you that was worth its weight in gold and really helped to take the pressure off. im sure the above will apply to you as i think most victorian uni's offer a similar thing for div 2's. good luck with your decision - either way you go, you will come out of it a great nurse if you knuckle down, engage in the topics and make the very most of the limited clinical placements you get. jo