Program
The Graduate Nurse and Graduate Midwife Combined Program at the Women’s is a great opportunity to put your knowledge into practice.
We welcome applicants who will complete their combined bachelor's nursing/midwifery degree in the academic year of 2024.
If Women’s health is your strong preference, the Women’s is an ideal setting to enjoy and develop both your Midwifery and Nursing skills.
The Women’s wants midwives and nurses who are passionate about caring for women and their babies and who can work harmoniously with a team. We want those who enjoy the challenge of developing themselves as individuals while developing as a professional.
- Full-time (1 EFT) or part-time (0.8 or 0.9EFT) employment in Maternity Services (midwifery rotation - 9 months)
- Full-time (1 EFT) ) or part-time (0.8 or 0.9EFT) employment during the nursing rotation - 3 months
- Commencement in February or May 2025.
During the 9 month rotation through maternity services, Graduates will complete block rotations to the following areas:
- Birth Centre
- Antenatal Clinic
- Complex Antenatal Unit
- Postnatal
- Elective Caesarean in theatre
Clinical areas to choose from during Nursing Rotation:
All applicants will be asked to rank their preferences from 1-3 for their rotation into Nursing from the following areas:
-
Emergency (WEC):
Provides 24 hour service for about 27,000 patients per annum averaging at 80 women per day. The majority of these patients are women with gynaecological and obstetric problems and neonates in their first week of life
- Gynaecology and women's cancer – 5 North:
A 24 bed gynaecological/oncology surgical ward. We care for women undertaking gynaecology and oncology surgical and medical procedures. The Complex Care Unit is co-located on 5 North which services patients across the whole hospital.
- Neonates:
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is one of four tertiary referral centres in Melbourne. As a tertiary referral centre we provide care for the sickest and most premature babies across Victoria and border regions, including Tasmania. The NICU is currently funded to care for 59 babies in total with 25 of these cots for babies requiring intensive care. Graduate nurses will have the opportunity to work in a number of areas in NICU including the special care nursery and high dependency unit. Both areas prepare graduate nurses well for post graduate study and opportunity to work in neonatal intensive care.
Professional Development days are provided during the program. These days are tailored to meet the specific needs of the graduate and cover a broad range of topics including:
- Violence against women
- Reproductive loss
- Mental health first aid
- Working with women who have drug and alcohol issues
- Breastfeeding foundations
- Fetal Surveillance Education Program (FSEP)
...and many more. The Professional Development days are complimented with individual tutorials and workshops that promote creative and reflective midwifery and nursing best practice.
In addition to this, the Women’s offers an abundance of learning opportunities tailored to your individual goals and objectives and programs to support you in both Midwifery and Nursing areas.
The Women's supports the rights of women to make individual decisions related to their health and well-being. This also includes making available pregnancy termination services. In your role as a graduate nurse or graduate midwife, you may care for women undergoing termination of pregnancy and, included in your care, you may be required to administer the first medication in this process. If you have any concerns in this regard, you may need to rethink whether the Women's is the right hospital choice for completion of your Graduate Nurse or Graduate Midwife program.
The Program Coordinator’s role is to manage and support, counsel and mentor graduates.
A team of Clinical Support Midwives/Nurses is available to orientate, support and guide novice practitioners during their program.
Annual leave is allocated within your first 12 months.
The 2025 Graduate Nurse/Midwife Information Evening is scheduled for Monday 27 May 2024 (from 5pm-7pm), via webinar.
The link to the Webex event will be available on this page closer to the date.