bev_w

ha ha! Well I ain't telling!

Thanks Gwen I now reside in WA but I am a banana bender too - and have jsut returned form some 'rural relief' in FNQ!! I did get the links and information from the 'Think Nursing' website (our version is 'are you good enough to be a nurse? - ha!) and you're right, it is very user-unfriendly. I intended to stay for ever but lasted 3 months as the nurse manager plays childish mind games and puts EVERYONE where they don't want to be...viola, a hospital full of unhappy nurses!! Works well. Don't worry though, I'm sure Mr Beatty has better things to do with his time than surf the web like us :roll Hopefully NursePest will remain a deep secret from the East.

Hi Lacie, I am new to this discussion forum and have just started to browse, but your comment stuck out and I would like to reply to you!! I completed my training just out of school, but was just as scared and found it very hard to find support in clinical settings, which is actually a bit of a sad comment about our profession! Don't get me wrong, there are loads of very helpful and supportive nurses you will find but they aren't always there. What you might find helpful is to remember you will never be expected to know everything. You will be expected to ask a lot of questions in every new area you work in, and people will be usually happy to answer them! If you find you are unable to get answers from people, always stand your ground. You will quickly get a reputation for being safe and practicing within your scope which is a very admirable quality to have. The first two weeks you work will be the scariest and hardest, but then it will all click and you'll be fine. The only other thing I would reccomend is to try and get a job as an AIN or PCA, it will give you great confidence in dealing with people and getting used to clinical settings. Best of luck with everything. I'm sure you'll make a great nurse as you have taken the time to question it, yet still stay comitted even underable less than desirable circumstances. Bev :)

Hi Barb, Like yourself I am amazed at NurseWaste and the fact they are still up and running! After hearing their ads on the radio some friends and I got curious and found a bit out but we are all shocked!! I met them at the Nursing Expo and after a glance at their pay rates am really not surprised no one has joined! Why would you when it undercuts everything that nurses are fighting for? One person I talked to is so disgusted at their pay rates she is actively trying to get a boycott running to stop people from joining them and negating all of the efforts people and the ANF have put work into already. The worst part is they keep gloating how they are saving money on agency nurses but they aren't - they still book just as many an big whoopy, they are down this month compared to August but it is every other year too - I think it's called summer...? What the media hasn't really made a deal of but it was published once in the west, was that they have literally spent millions of dollars of taxpayer's money on advertising and salaries for their multiple office staff. For what? They have managed to recruit about 25 nurses and have 18 office staff to place the 25 nurses! Their time is just spent running between hospitals and agencies, it adds a middleman and blows all of this money for what I ask you?? What the public sector is missing out on due to regular incompetent NurseMess staff buggering up the bookings, has resulted in the private sector being fully staffed for the first time in ages and very much enjoying it! So many people I have talked to refuse to work public because it is too risky to deal with Nurse West! I am incredulous at what I found out, and can't believe they can continue to throw good money after so so bad, and I also can't believe the media has not publicised this information. I am so angry at yet another attempt to cut nurses down. Working agency is a freedom that has been hard fought for, and the salaries are not that high when you take into account all you give up to work for them. However, until hospitals recognise that nurses have lives and need to be accomodated as such (ie families) agency is the only forseeable means to keep your skills and income, while working around a family! While I no longer work agency I have done in the past, and fully support people's right to continue. It is also a benifit to ward nurses to have the support of a flexible workforce who can fill your gaps as it is needed. I would love to hear more about NurseWest if anyone else has more information or even aything positive to say about them, what opinions anyone might share with me. Bev W, Perth WA