Graduate Nurse

Grey's anatomy and call the midwife made nursing look like dramatic bedside moments and high-stakes births. The reality is closer to a 22-year-old graduate nurse at 6 in the morning, taking the IS bar clinical handover from the night shift on a busy surgical ward, with a patient load of four to six people waiting for the morning medication round. Becoming a registered nurse in Australia takes a three-year Bachelor of Nursing from a university accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Board. After graduation, registration with AHPRA, then a 12-month graduate nurse transitioned to practice programme at the employing hospital, with two six-month rotations through different clinical areas and structured education days. The day is built around the ward, IS bar handover at the start and end of each shift, drawing up and administering the morning medication round, charting observations, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, oxygen saturation, wound care, canula insertion, catheter care, pressure area management, writing the discharge summary handover for the GP and community team.