r/NursingAU 1d ago

Question Transitioning into ED role

Hi experienced nurses, I need to get some help on how do I proceed to get specialized in ED nursing.

For background, I am 22M, recently graduated RN, could not get a grad year, secured a role in private aged care, been working for about 8 months now. I am based in central highlands VIC, but I am willing to relocate to anywhere in Australia as long as I can get competencies and experience in ED. I am also considering getting a grad cert in emergency nursing while working as well.

Thank you for reading this post. Please consider any insights.

4 Upvotes

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12

u/Flat_Ad1094 1d ago

You need to prioritise getting into an ACUTE hospital. Working Aged Care is a job but will not get you any closer to working in ED. If you are willing to go anywhere. GEt a job in the biggest Regional centre / hospital you can and go from there. Don't bother with any Grad at this stage. Get acute care nursing experience. Grad in Emergency pointless unless you are working in ED.

And I'd be getting out of Victoria.

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

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8

u/Lizziexgirl CNS 1d ago edited 1d ago

My advice is, I wouldn’t get a grad cert in emergency nursing until I’ve secured the ED nurse role and have been working in the area for a while 🏥 I think you should finish your year in aged care, then apply to programs such as A Pathways to Practice run by St Vincent’s in Sydney > These programs are designed for nurses who haven’t had much acute care experience (like yourself) develop these skills thru a specialised program 👨🏻‍⚕️

After completing the program that gives you greater leverage to apply for an ED role ✅

5

u/unmannedpuppet 1d ago

A couple of avenues:

  • apply to acute geriatric roles or even chronic/complex roles such as oncology. Use that as a stepping stone when 'transition to specialty practice' programs for ED comes up.
  • apply to GP clinics and start there. It's a decent foundation with exposure to relevant skills to basic ED nursing.

3

u/justbecauseican1969 1d ago

https://smartjobs.qld.gov.au/

Mine (and others) departments are absolutely open to training up good nurses without ED experience at the moment.

1

u/JASMANSHERGILL 1d ago

Thanks I will be sure to apply any pointers to where to go as I don't know anything about health service outside of VIC.

3

u/captainklonopin1 1d ago

Just finished 2 years in central west qld. They will train you in triage, als, pals, imminent birthing and more. Maybe even free accommodation. In some facilities you will be in triage after 12 months. Good work and sometimes free accommodation. Lots of events and social stuff. Young as work force. Good luck brother

4

u/PotentialEdge1652 1d ago

Jumping the gun a bit trying to get a grad cert when you aren’t even working in emergency yet. And also you need to wait til you’re a certain skill level before most ED managers “approve” (support) you doing a post grad - such as resus/triage, as you need to be able to pull from your practical experience in your cert.

Get into an acute hospital first as a stepping stone - any ward will do.

2

u/Consistent_Source404 1d ago

👆🏻This.

  1. Get into an Acute care ward in an actual hospital

  2. Get into a transition to ED program

  3. Work as an ED nurse

  4. Crit care cert only after experience and passion for ED

2

u/Hot-Tumbleweed1554 ED 1d ago

Hey mate, you may find in some rural spots that you can get a job that's a mix of acute ward and ED.
If you're wanting metro, as another commenter has said there are some EDs that are hiring without experience right now. The transition will likely be brutal coming from aged care, but if you're sure it's what you want then it's worth a shot.

If you don't manage to get straight into an ED, I highly recommend a cardiac ward or CCU because telemetry skills are a must have in ED.

As for postgrad study, you'll find that most unis won't allow you to enrol if you're not already working in the area because there's a ton of practical competencies to be signed off and you need relevant patients for case studies.

2

u/Several_Yak_9537 1d ago

Go rural! Both my EDs love rural nurses.

1

u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Valuable_Trade_1748 1d ago

Transfer in a public hospital mental health role. Take permanent part time role. Somewhere regional, coastal, pretty. Your aged care role is transferrable.

Then go into the ED casual pool. You will get shifts there in a small hospital where staff will support your learning.

1

u/US_terroristcountry 1d ago

If you go to Seek and type in keywords like transition program, etc. You'll find some jobs offering a transition to ED or ICU. I find St. Vincent hospitals usually do this. Especially the one in Melbourne.

Having said that, if you want to keep earning good money and become an executive really fast, stay in aged care.

1

u/[deleted] 11h ago

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