A total of 85 registered nurses have graduated in the first intake of Aged & Community Care Providers Association’s graduate nurse transition-to-practice program.
The government-funded program provides aged care nurses with mentoring, training and support in a bid to retain them in the sector. ACCPA along with the University of Wollongong and the Australian College of Nursing won the tenders to deliver the Aged Care Transition to Practice Program across the country. The program is open to new RNs, new enrolled nurses and experienced RNs who are new to aged care.
The ACCPA ACTTP graduates include 75 RNs who took part in the program over the past year, and 10 transitioning RNs who joined the program for six months from other nursing fields to move into aged care. They took part under the auspices of their employers and were from Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania. The cohort graduated in an online ceremony on 21 February.
ACCPA’s Aged Care Transition to Nursing Program national team leader Bronwyn Doyle said the program supported aged care nurses to start their careers in aged care with confidence.
“Nurses who work in aged care and community care environments have the privilege of building strong relationships with older people and their families, supporting quality of life to the end, and experiencing a sense of personal fulfilment that is difficult to find elsewhere,” Ms Doyle said in a statement.
“Our program offers personalised service and ongoing support to aged care organisations, including recruiting nurse applicants wanting to work in the industry.”
ACCPA chief executive officer Tom Symondson congratulated the RNs for deciding to stay in the sector and continue to support older Australians.
“There is a critical shortage of RNs in aged care, something which has been well documented since before the pandemic, so every one of our graduates lights the way for others to follow,” Mr Symondson said in a statement.
The most recent intake for ACCPA’s transition-to-practice program started last month and the next will commence in August 2023.
The aged care sector needs to encourage more nurses to take this step and enter the aged care sector, Mr Symondson said.
“Aged care can be a rewarding career with many opportunities to work in different settings.”
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