workforce
responses: “They keep saying I need more
experience – this coming from both the
acute and aged care jobs I applied for –
but how can I get the experience if I can’t
get jobs in the first place?”
Finally, four months post RN
registration, Oliver started working
in a small private aged care facility as
the casual RN. On the first day, he felt
overwhelmed and overloaded with his
duties. As the shift progressed, he found
himself getting faster and becoming more
confident: “I just needed to find my way
around the ward and get my head around
what I was expected to do. It was because
of my limited experience but mainly due
to the lack of support – no one there to
ask how things worked, etc. It was really
hard when I was the only RN on duty.”
The next shifts, which were a few days
apart, proved to be no better. Two residents
needed hospitalisation and took up a
substantial amount of his time, resulting in
some uncompleted duties being handed
over to the following shifts.
As a result of the uncompleted work, and
with no consideration for Oliver’s overall
workload and his novice status, he was not
given any further shifts. He said: “I was not
alone in this situation, as other graduates
had faced the same fate.”
He went on to comment: “I felt really let
down and really disappointed, and felt very
disillusioned. I am rethinking my career and
if I should look for something else.”
Oliver said finding a nursing position, as
a new GRN, was very difficult. “Employers
seem to seek out more-experienced
nurses for permanent roles and use the
inexperienced nurses as casual relief as a
last resort.
“I personally feel that in order to
support myself and a family in the future,
if this is the problem you face when
entering the field of nursing, then it is
quite discouraging. It has made me feel
that nursing isn’t a stable career option
and that I may need to consider other
opportunities.”
At the six-month post-RN-registration
contact, Oliver acknowledged that he
had persevered in his quest to gain a
GRN program, remarking: “I felt that after
my aged care RN experience, the only
way I would find the support needed to
transition into a competent RN, and then
be able to obtain a permanent position
within nursing, was through doing a
GRN program.”
On his first attempt, he was given an
interview but was not successful, due
to very limited graduate positions, but
he was offered a place on his second
attempt.
Oliver said: “I am excited and happy
about this opportunity but a bit
disappointed it will be nearly a full year
before I gain entry into a GRN program.”
He discussed his experience and
voiced his disappointment at the lack of
opportunities for new graduates who are
unable to obtain entry into GRN programs
in order to find a job for which they have
been trained. He further reiterated that
there is a very unrealistic view of what
new GRNs should be able to do as they
enter their new career environment.
The challenging situation faced by
Oliver and James in finding employment
due to their novice RN status and
lack of clinical nursing experience is
a phenomenon common across the
Australian nursing workforce.
The concerns about decreased
employment opportunities for Australian
graduate nurses and health employers’
tendency to employ 457 visa RNs are
outlined in the March 2016 Senate report,
A National Disgrace: The Exploitation of
Temporary Work Visa Holders. The report
highlights the lack of transition support as
a major issue, which is consistent with the
experiences of James and Oliver.
New GRNs require access to the
professional practice environment to
gain RN experience with given time
to synthesise their nursing theory to
practice. Therefore, the challenge to
reduce graduate nurses’ frustration in
gaining registered nurse experience
requires health industry financial
investment for GRN professional support
and the opportunity for successful
transition into the professional-practice
environment with gainful nursing
employment are paramount.
Moreover, it can be argued that there is
a need to establish quarantined graduate
registered nurse positions within the
health environment and to invest in nurse
leadership in the form of mentor support
and role modelling supportive transition for
novice nurses in professional practice. ■
Dianne Juliff is a nursing PhD candidate
at the University of Notre Dame Australia,
Fremantle.
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