gogirlgo

What is a brain sheet? Just curious.....it must be an American thing.

As a psych nurse, just thought I should mention that in Australia CCU can stand for Community Care Unit and HDU for High Dependency Unit which are Mental Health units. But I am sure that they were cardiac jobs you were looking at! Good luck.

Hi, Anyone willing to share their experiences with AESOP, the computerized rostering system that a lot of hospitals seeming to be introducing for their rostering. Have a look at http://www.aesophealthcare.com.au. Casual bank nursing staff at the Victorian public hospital where I work now get their shifts thru this system which utilizes txt messages, Internet and automated phone methods. No more writing availability in the Ward diary - now u wait for a txt or select open shifts on the Internet. Would love to know how it works from the employers end - do a certain batch of preferred nurses get offered a shift first before it is open to all? Just trying to figure out how to make the best use of the system. It looks fabulous, you can even specify txt messages and no phone calls! Thanks.

Just got my letter today to say that I missed out on one of the RCNA Nursing and Allied Health Scholarship and Support Scheme postgraduate scholarships which are funded by the Aust Government Department of Health and Ageing. I applied to study a postgrad diploma in mental health nursing in 2011. Have to say I was a bit disappointed, with mental health supposedly being an area of shortage. Although looking at the RCNA website, it looks like for 2011 they have merged mental health scholarships into a bigger pool which I guess would make them harder to get. Did anyone else apply, and if so, how did you go? Would love to know how many applicants there were and how many scholarships were awarded.

Wow, things are certainly different in the USA compared to Australia. I am a new graduate in a government hospital, a 25 bed adult inpatient unit. On average I would have 4 - 6 patients, generally around 5, for whom I give medications. We have cleaning and kitchen staff to hand out meals, clean etc, but we do everything else.

Dissappointed that with national registration I will not be able to get endorsement as a mental health nurse. Doing my graduate year at the moment, and plan to do a Grad Dip in Mental Health Nursing next year, but the incentive to undertake the Grad Dip has been reduced. Will those who currently call themselves a Registered Psychiatric Nurse have to stop doing so under national registration? I guess their endorsement would just disappear!

I have joined HACSU instead of ANF, as they seem to be more relevant to my speciality, mental health nursing. The main reason I joined was for professional indemnity coverage, and, less importantly, for somewhere to go for advice/representation if needed. Interestingly, I am sure I briefly saw a flyer from HACSU the other day saying that under national registration all nurses will require professional indemnity insurance. If this is the case, this would become big business for insurance companies and it would be interesting to get a quote from an insurance company and compare it to the cost of union fees. Anyone heard about this?

Just wondering what other people's experience has been if they have joined the ANF as a student member via their $30 per year membership, and then not wanted to continue with the membership once they have graduated? My experience at this stage is that I have been sent text messages telling me that they are upgrading my membership to a Div 1. After emailing them to tell them I dont wish to become a full (ie. not just student) member, they advise they are not willing to accept an email resignation, and are insisting on a written resignation, including reasons. Anyone else had any experience with this? A simple $30 a year is turning into a bit of a nightmare and I am starting to wish I had never bothered with the student membership.

hi, have you had a look at the victorian nurse computer matching website? http://computermatching.pmcv.com.au a month or so ago they had a list of all the unmatched positions available after computer match results were released. i cant seem to find it on their site now unfortunately. maybe worth contacting them and asking if they can email you a copy. the bottom line is probably that private hospitals are the ones to contact first as they aren't as popular for grad years as the public system. good luck.

Sorry, have no idea about rents. But I suggest you try either of these 2 websites - theage.com.au or heraldsun.com.au and look for a link to real estate and rentals. These are our 2 daily Melbourne newspapers. They will also give you a feel for life in Melbourne.

I am a third year Deakin nursing student and have been very happy with Deakin. It has a good reputation and its location is also good. Burwood is a nice part of Melbourne, very suburban, and a tram runs out the front into the city if you need to get public transport. Good luck with your studies.

Thanks. I hadn't thought what effect national registration might have. I am actually just a newly registered Div 2, having been able to register after finishing 2nd year. The plan would only be to work as a div 2 if for whatever reason I am in a location where div 1 shifts aren't available, or if I am only working say 1 shift a week or fortnight and feel my knowledge is slipping. I am mature age and never plan to work fulltime. Thanks again for your thoughts.

Just wondering if anyone had an opinion on the idea of being registered in both Division 1 and Division 2 (non med endorsed). I will be graduating as a Div 1 at the end of this year but have been able to obtain Div 2 registration as I have completed the 2nd year of my degree. I presume that if I give up the Div 2 registration when I become a Div 1, I will not be able to get it back again? It seems to me that whilst I wish to work as a Div 1, it could be handy to have the flexibility to say work in a nursing home as a div 2 (and avoid having to be in charge of the whole place), or to work as an agency nurse in areas where I lack confidence and would be more comfortable working at a lower level and not having to do meds. Not to mention if I moved to a country town where the local nursing home is the main work choice. Any thoughts or advice?

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!

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!