A GRADUATE program for critical care nurses was launched at Bendigo Hospital on Monday.<\/p>\n
Twelve registered nurses will rotate through the Bendigo Hospital\u2019s emergency department, and intensive care, short stay observation, and acute treatment units over the next year.<\/p>\n
Director of nursing, ambulatory and critical care, Kate Fuller, said it became clear during COVID that the health service needed to start its own critical care program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realised over the pandemic we needed to do things a little differently in regard to recruiting and retaining staff,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Fuller said the RNs will get the necessary training, practice and support to set them up long term at Bendigo Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are offering a program that will introduce them to a full 12 months in the critical care space with the aim for them to undertake post graduate studies here in the future,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese nurses will be thoroughly trained spending the majority of their time in the emergency department and undertaking patient assessments.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the RNs who accepted a grad position was Shelby Trigg and she said she was \u201cecstatic\u201d to secure a spot.<\/p>\n
Ms Trigg also said a career in critical care was a natural fit with her mother being a nurse and her father working in emergency services.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad is a fire brigade captain who loves adrenaline,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, the two paths kind of collided and I found myself really interested in the critical care stream.\u201d<\/p>\n
A general graduate program was also announced with 22 more registered nurses accepting positions that will see them rotate through inpatient wards, community nursing, and patient services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A GRADUATE program for critical care nurses was launched at Bendigo Hospital on Monday. Twelve registered nurses will rotate through the Bendigo Hospital\u2019s emergency department, and intensive care, short stay observation, and acute treatment units over the next year. Director of nursing, ambulatory and critical care, Kate Fuller, said it became clear during COVID that […]<\/p>\n