The Enrolled Nurse (EN), Registered Nurse (RN) and Midwife Graduate programs, provide temporary nursing and midwifery contracts (6-months for EN and 12-months for RN/Midwife), both full and part‑time, across multiple facilities, including:
Program aims
The program aims to:
- support you as you transition into the role
- provide you with opportunities to consolidate your clinical skills and develop clinical competence and confidence
- provide you with opportunities to work within an interprofessional team
- support you to develop your clinical decision making and critical thinking skills.
Program overview
Graduates receive education and support in the clinical environment, through a range of strategies, from a team of professionals.
Education opportunities
- orientation day
- access to Transition Support Programs (in some specialty areas)
- professional development opportunities
- in-service education sessions
- quality improvement activity
- reflective practice groups and reflective journalling
- progress review meetings
- specialty education outlined in Requisite Education Frameworks (REFs)
Clinical support
Clinical Coaches provide hands-on clinical support and education in a supportive learning environment, working in partnership with unit preceptors/buddies, and Nurse/Midwifery Unit Managers (NUM/MUMs). Graduates receive regular feedback to support their learning and development.
Other clinical support during your graduate program is provided via:
- unit induction
- supernumerary days
- supported practice
- nurse educators
- clinical nurse consultants
- graduate program co-ordinator.
Peer learning and support
During your graduate program, you will benefit from a collaborative, clinical environment, where teamwork and shared knowledge enhance your professional growth. Support opportunities include:
- graduate focus groups
- reflective practice groups.
Clinical areas
The following clinical units/specialties are offered in the graduate program. You may select your preferences when submitting your application, which will be considered if your graduate program application is successful. While every effort is made to match applicants with their preferred placements, not everyone will receive their first or second choice.
Please note that the clinical units/specialties available may change between recruitment rounds.
Caloundra Health Service
- Dove Palliative Care Unit
Glenbrook Residential Aged Care
Gympie Hospital
- Acute Services Unit (ASU)
- Emergency Department
- Extended Services Unit (ESU)
- Perioperative
Maleny Soldiers Memorial Hospital
- Maleny Ward
Nambour General Hospital
- Acute and Restorative Care (ARC) Unit (Ward 2FE and 2FW)
- Emergency Department
- Medical (Ward 4FW)
- Medical and Close Observation Unit (Ward 3FW)
- Medical Assessment and Planning Unit (MAPU)
- Mental Health
- Perioperative
- Surgical (Ward 3FE)
Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH)
- Acute Rehabilitation Unit
- Cardiac / Endocrine Unit (Ward 3D)
- Child and Adolescent Unit (CAU)
- Emergency Department
- General Medicine (Ward 5B/5C)
- Mental Health
- Oncology / Haematology Unit (Ward 5D)
- Orthopaedics (Ward 5A)
- Perioperative
- Renal / Gastroenterology / Hepatology Unit (Ward 3C)
- Respiratory / Infectious Diseases Unit (Ward 3A)
- Stroke / Neurology / Acute Geriatrics Unit (Ward 4A)
- Surgical (Ward 4B & Ward 4C)
- Urology / Gynaecology (Ward 4D)
Midwifery
Midwifery is not considered a clinical area for preference selection, as it is a separate profession to nursing. If you have dual qualifications, you will need to make a choice between midwifery or nursing. Applicants selecting midwifery will be asked to select, in order of preference, the midwifery model of care you would prefer to work in.
Queensland Health midwifery model of care options include:
- Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) or Continuity of Midwifery Care Model
- rotational shifts across all areas of midwifery practice.
Midwifery graduate positions are offered at Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Gympie Hospital.
Work hours
Graduates will participate in a continuous shift roster ias required by their allocated clinical unit. This includes working a range of rostered shifts across a 24-hour/7-day service, including early, late, night, weekend, and public holiday shifts. Graduates may also have the opportunity to work additional shifts within their clinical area when available.
Eligibility
Refer to the Queensland Health Nursing and Midwifery Graduate Portal for eligibility information and to learn more about the graduate program recruitment process.
Applications are only valid for one application period. If you have applied during a previous recruitment campaign, you may still be eligible for the current period but will need to reapply for consideration.
How to apply
To apply for a graduate position with us, you must apply through our graduate portal. The recruitment process can take up to 3 months. We recommend you prepare all the documents you’ll need in advance, so you’re ready to submit them through the portal when it opens. Incomplete submissions may cause delays in the processing of your application.
RN/Midwifery Graduate Programs
Expressions of interest and applications for a graduate program at Sunshine Coast Health are submitted through the Queensland Health Nursing and Midwifery Graduate Portal between June and August each year.
We recommend preparing the information you will need to submit with your application in advance.
EN Graduate Program
Recruitment is subject to organisational requirements. Please monitor the Smart Jobs website for opportunities as they become available.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Identified positions
We value the guidance and involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples working in our services to help us provide culturally and clinically safe care.
Our graduate program has several Aboriginal and Torres Islander identified nursing and midwifery graduate positions, supported with cultural mentorship. We encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to apply for identified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduate nursing and midwifery positions.
To be eligible to apply for an identified graduate position, the graduate must identify during the graduate application process, using the Statutory Declaration on the Graduate Portal. Proof of Aboriginality (as outlined in Commission Chief Executive Guideline 02/13: Evidence of Attribute – Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Identified Roles) is required if you're appointed to an identified position.
Commencement
To start your graduate program, you must provide evidence of completion of either a Diploma of Nursing (EN), Bachelor of Nursing (RN) or Midwifery degree.
You must also provide all requested recruitment documents including:
- evidence of being registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
- evidence of Vaccination for Preventable Diseases (VPD) and Tuberculosis (TB) Risk Assessment
Primary RN/Midwife graduate program intakes are in October and February each year.
Options after the program
When you finish the program you'll have the opportunity to apply for work in a variety of clinical areas. You may also want to apply for one of our second year graduate programs.
We currently offer second year graduate programs within the following units:
- Cancer Care Services (Day unit)
- Renal Services
- Gastroenterology Procedural Suites
- Interventional Suites.