Laura P.
About me
| Laura P. | |
| Health Sciences | |
| Evidence-Based Nursing Practice | |
| Undergraduate | |
| James | |
| 2010 | |
| Australia |
My employment
| Assistant Unit Manager/ Deputy Sister | |
| South Eastern Private Hospital | |
| Australia | |
| Healthcare | |
| 2013 | |
| £40000 | |
| £50000 |
Like this profile?
Add this profile to your favourites so you can return to it later from your account.
A day in the life of a Assistant Unit Manager/ Deputy Sister in Australia
My career history
I moved to Australia in 2010 after spending a few months travelling and began working as a Community Nurse in Brisbane for 18 months.
Then I moved to Melbourne and began working on an acute medical and surgical ward. After 8 months I was promoted to deputy sister. I stayed for 18 months then moved to a different hospital on a medical/oncology/palliative ward where I am currently working as a Deputy Sister and Educator.
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I am enjoying the moment - I have no aspirations to be a sister, I am quite happy where I am. At some point I think I will go back into sexual health and family planning - but that is quite far down the track.
My advice to students considering work
If you have a choice of diploma or degree- do degree - the extra work is worth it! Even though you are probably stressed and haven't got a minute to sleep - get a part time or agency job - apply for NHS Professionals and work in the hospital - get your face known, work somewhere 'different' - almost every student nurse is going to graduate with the same thing on their CV, you need something alternative on yours - something to make you stand out and make them remember you. Work part-time throughout uni - it will give you the confidence and more experience and knowledge, and save your money so you don't have to move back in with your parents while you're job hunting!
For Nursing in particular - get one years experience first then head over! You can come on a working holiday visa, or if you find a job before you come over the hospital or organisation will need to sponsor you on a 457 visa. Make sure you leave plenty of time to get registered with APHRA - the nursing board over here - it can take a while!
You can look for jobs on www.seek.com to see what they're looking for.
Save up so you have money to fall back on when you come over, do as many short or online courses as you can to boost your CV.
My advice about working in my industry
For Nursing in particular - get one years experience first then head over! You can come on a working holiday visa, or if you find a job before you come over the hospital or organisation will need to sponsor you on a 457 visa. Make sure you leave plenty of time to get registered with APHRA - the nursing board over here - it can take a while!!
You can look for jobs on www.seek.com to see what they're looking for.
Save up so you have money to fall back on when you come over, do as many short or online courses as you can to boost your CV.
What I do
My role involves overseeing the care of 45 patients - mixed oncology, medical, palliative and overnight sleep studies. This involves nursing care of acutely ill patients, general medical nursing care, intravenous therapy, including antibiotics and blood transfusions, and pain relief. I nurse a variety of patients including geriatric, psychiatric, palliative care, and medical patients. My role includes delegating to other members of staff, as well as following instruction from my seniors, administering medicines, orally, IV or via IM or SC injection, and nutritional feeds via Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy. I suction to provide comfort, provide oxygen therapy and nebulisers, and manage all aspects of elimination. I look after all aspects of personal hygiene. I interact daily with the family of the clients ensuring a good relationship. I work with a multi-disciplinary team, including delegating to other nurses, following orders from Senior Registered Nurses, and liaise with Physiotherapists, Doctors and Nurses involved in patient care.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Finishing Uni with the degree rather than the diploma certainly helped. I had worked in NHS Professionals in York Hospital throughout uni too which also helped a great deal - looks very good on your CV!
Degree skills:
The practical side has been the most helpful - the students in Australia graduate with very limited skills and it made me thankful for the hard work of placements! :-)
Extracurricular skills:
I attended courses on Immunisation, Wound Management etc. I also worked part time in Monkgate Sexual Health clinic as well as NHSP - having a variety of background experiences helps you in every situation.
What I like most
The staff I work with are caring, considerate, good at their jobs and genuinely nice people!
What I like least
The palliative side is obviously quite sad, but I wouldn't say I didn't like it as it is so rewarding at the same time.
What would I change? There is nothing I would change about my career - I think I have got where I am with a mixture of hard work, dreaming and luck! To anyone else thinking of doing the same - I would say for them to get 1 years experience nursing BEFORE coming out here - usually they are looking for 1 years post grad experience and I was pretty lucky to find a job that didn't request it.
Next steps...
If you like the look of Laura’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Laura a message to find out more about their career journey.