Nursing??

[mummaofchaz]

I would like to start a course at the start of next year when bub no.2 is around the 6mth mark and I thought i wouldn't mind trying the nursing scene out it has interested me for a while and essentially I wouldn't mind getting into paediatrics or even being a MCHN in the community.
How does one know if this is the right path to go down and what courses etc. do you need to do to accomplish this?
I though early childhood would be another area I wouldn't mind getting into

[PinkPalace]

HI there!
i think when you are deciding about study you need to look at the things that interest you.
DO you like helping people, talking to people, teaching people?

You seem to be nagivating towards children in your choices. Could you perhaps contact your local helath centre and ask if you have have a meeting with the charge nurse to ask qns about what they do.

If you choose to go down nursing pathways - keep in mind you are wanting specialities. It isnt impossible to get work in paeds straight from uni but it is hard as employeers like you to have a grounding before you specialise. Also dont restrict yourself. YOu might love children and babies but nursing is a very vast profession and so many roles you can work in!

As for community nursing - often it is a requirement you have a number of years of clinical experience. Honestly this is quite essentail to consolidate your skills and your ability to make autonomous decisions as you dont have much support in the community other than yourself.

There are graduate certificates in cihld and youth nursing you can do once qualified as well to accelerate your career into the community role.

As for the teaching vs nursing careers.

Are the certain hours you would like to work?
Teaching is "predominately" mon -fri 9-5 work (plus all the extra prep hours at home) and nursing is shift work 7 days a week.
Teachers get holidays at certain dates which is great for the public holidays (xmas etc) but remember you are oftern restricted to these times with high season costs etc.
Nurses you can work your shifts to get a number of days off in a row but be prepared to work a hell of a lot of weekends and depending on your workplace - but prepared to not have any easter or christmas with your family for a number of years

I think either job would be rewarding and often nurses jump to teaching anyhow once they have children to fit in with schooling.

i hope you get the chance to sit down and thoroughly think out where your interests lie.

xx

[feeb]

Nursing is a great starting point!!

You can work in peads or SCN as a Registered nurse.

If you want to do MCHN you need to do 3 years nursing then 1 year midwifery and then 1 year MCHN. (They are all lengths if full time)

I started my graduate year in peads and then went to a medical unit until I left for midwifery.

Nursing and Midwifery are fantastic and rewarding careers.

[Freya]

Im currently doing a full time Bachelor of nursing with 3 little kids. The one thing I would recommend is not study full time. Nursing is a very full on course and it gets tough with kids and homelife in tow.

Its great though; so interesting I love learning everything!

[Mildez]

Yeah I thing nursing is such a good career path as it can lead you into so many directions even if clinical nursing isn't for you. A friend of mine works in a school doing something completely unrelated to nursing except when she applied for the job it was suppose to be for a nurse.

And you don't need to be a midwife to be a MFHN so you can take a year of there if your not wanting to do midwifery. You can also have a job in SCN, maternity, community etc and not be a RN. Many En's or EEN's also work in these areas if your not wanting to study for several years.

Me personally part time bachelor of nursing would be the go as you can take a few extra years to do it and have a smaller load and still have more time with a young family whilst they are little. Then you will be qualified by the time they are off to school.

[feeb]

Yeah I thing nursing is such a good career path as it can lead you into so many directions even if clinical nursing isn't for you. A friend of mine works in a school doing something completely unrelated to nursing except when she applied for the job it was suppose to be for a nurse.

And you don't need to be a midwife to be a MFHN so you can take a year of there if your not wanting to do midwifery. You can also have a job in SCN, maternity, community etc and not be a RN. Many En's or EEN's also work in these areas if your not wanting to study for several years.

Me personally part time bachelor of nursing would be the go as you can take a few extra years to do it and have a smaller load and still have more time with a young family whilst they are little. Then you will be qualified by the time they are off to school.

In Vic you do need to have nursing and mid to do MCHN as I am thinking of studying it next year. And have friends studying now. And Maternity wards in melb try and avoid RN and EN on post natal wards where they can.

[Mildez]

Must be different. In NSW alot of MCHN are not midwives. A friend who is doing her MCHN who is a midwife through the university of Sydney or college of nursing (can't remember which one it is) said she was one of 4 midwives in her class of almost 30.
Where I work there are about 10 EN's, about 10 AIN'S and 26 midwives (for a maternity unit that delivers 1500 babies a year) the only place the EN's dont work is labour ward and they can't do ANC's (well they can but it wouldn't stand up in court if something happened) they do alot of mothercraft education, feeding assistance, SWISHs, feeding bubs in SCN, etc. We couldn't work without them but I do work in a place where midwives are a minority and we have a number of agency midwives that fly in/fly out basis. I do not know the set up of other places except where I work or policies in other states.
Feeb where are you looking at doing MCHN? I would like to do it to but here you need to work in the area (unless your willing to pay for it yourself which is very expensive around $6000 and it isn't offered under HELP or HECS) I have been meaning to see if I can do it by distant education and not work in the area for now if that makes sense (except for the placements).

[feeb]

I am looking at Latrobe and RMIT. Latrobe has less days at uni as mainly online. Its about $14K need to look further into as the costs are all done differntly now as HECS is different and seems very confusing. There is also the possibility of government supported place or coucnil scholorships to assist in costs.

Where I work there is about 4000 births a year, there is only a few mothercraft nurses who have worked for many years there and rest are all mw. A lot of the mid students work as ENs and will be accepted to work on ward as they r studying. They try and avoid agency en's as often we have had some who dont know anything about mums and babies and it makes workload even heavier. If there is no other agency staff available they will use for extra hands but often doesnt help much as they can only do the basic obs and not the mid part of obs etc.

[PinkPalace]

I would like to do it to but here you need to work in the area (unless your willing to pay for it yourself which is very expensive around $6000 and it isn't offered under HELP or HECS) I have been meaning to see if I can do it by distant education and not work in the area for now if that makes sense (except for the placements).

Remember you can claim it as self education on your tax
xx

Will be interesting how things change after july 1st when national registration happens?

[Mildez]

The easiest way here to do it is be emplyed by a community centre and they pay for you to do it provided your going to stay on after your trained. We can work as a community midwife without MCHN but usually its only when they are desperate and they like to send you of to uni to train. But I can't committe to that so its not an option for me. I wish I could do it at home and once qualified then go work in the area at a later date.

Sorry mummaofchaz for crashing your thread.

[mummaofchaz]

That's ok!
Would anyone know which uni's in Vic the Bachelor of Nursing is avail at part time?
Does it go towards getting a Div 1 or is it a Div 1 course?

[feeb]

Bachelor of nursing is Div 1.

Most unis will offer part time. Latrobe, RMIT, ACU, VUT all offer nursing

[Mother Goose]

you can also study nursing via distance education and still register anywhere (after you've registered int he State you studied). Univeristy of South Australia offer direct entry into the distance ed program but you can also apply through Open Learning Australia. There are a few Uni's who offer it via distance ed... and you can do it part time.

[mummaofchaz]

I found a Div 2 nursing course at Chisholm Tafe in Frankston goes for 18mths full time or 2 years part time. Could be promising not sure how many days would be required and im not sure what sort of areas I could work in with the qualification besides aged care.
Have to do a separate course for the medication side of things too which is another additional 13 weeks.

[Mother Goose]

many hospitals employ Div 2 nurses. St Vincent's Private offers a traineeship for Div 2 so you study and work at the same time. They were advertising recently.

[PinkPalace]

what is div 1 and 2??

[feeb]

Division 1 is registered nurse.

Division 2 is enrolled nurse

[PinkPalace]

oh right. i am still in the old school terminology lol