August 5, 2021

Students

Renewed interest in nursing seen globally, but pay and conditions discourage students

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The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has reported a significant increase in applications to study nursing, but has also found that poor pay and working conditions are discouraging students from joining the profession.

The ICN’s report Nursing Education and the emerging nursing workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic has found that 30% of nursing associations globally have seen an increase in applications into nursing programmes, proving a new-found interest in the profession as a result of the pandemic.

However, the report also found that disputes around pay, conditions and personal protective equipment (PPE) were discouraging current and prospective students from entering nursing.

The report also noted that disruptions to nursing education were taking its toll on nursing students, with many reporting discontent over the handling of the pandemic by education providers.

ICN President Annette Kennedy has attributed the rise in applications to the increased visibility of nursing throughout COVID-19.

“Many people have realised the importance and true value of nursing, ad they want to experience what it is like to provide care in the unique way only nurses can,” Ms Kennedy said.

“[However], the public has also seen in detail the traumas they have faced and the effects these have had on nurses’ health and wellbeing”.

As a result of the report’s findings, the ICN has called on governments around the world to address the issues being raised by nurses, particularly around remuneration and education.

“Nurses need to be able to pay their bills and feed and support their families. I am calling on governments to invest in nurses’ pay and education for now and the future,” Ms Kennedy said.

“This is a commitment that must be written into the heart of the post-pandemic plan”.

Little love for nursing and midwifery students in Federal Budget

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Nursing and midwifery students have again been forgotten in the Federal Government’s budget.

The budget, claimed by the Morrison government to have “prioritised job creation”, has provided no additional support for students currently studying nursing or midwifery, or those looking to study these courses in the near future.

Instead, it has cut $1 billion from university funding nationally, leading to concerns about the quality of nursing and midwifery education in the future.

Students and the university sector have both lambasted the budget proposals.

Professor Margaret Gardner, Chair of Universities Australia, has described the Federal Government’s approach to university funding as “heading in the wrong direction.”

“The Government’s own figures show no increase in public funding. The Government‘s [budget] reflects a decision to make students pay more,” Professor Gardner said.

Professor Gardner’s sentiments are shared by National Union of Students’ President Zoe Ranganathan.

“Overall, the 2021 Federal Budget sets the higher education sector up to fail,” she says.

“More staff will be cut, and students will be left with bigger HECS debts. This is a government who have pretended that students don’t exist on budget night.”

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association will continue to advocate for nursing and midwifery students as members of our profession. Undergraduate student nurses and midwives can join the Association for free here.

So you want to be an AIN?

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The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association’s Professional Team writes about what you need to know to be an Assistant in Nursing (AIN).

Who is eligible to be an Assistant in Nursing (AIN)?

There are many benefits to working as an Assistant in Nursing (AIN) while completing a nursing degree. You can develop your fundamental nursing skills and expand your experience with communicating with patients, knowledge on how the hospital/healthcare system works, essential skills such as bed making, vital signs, and patient personal care, and networking with employers. Not to mention, having AIN experience looks good to employers once you graduate as a Registered Nurse and you can support yourself through your studies with adequate time management.

To be able to apply for an AIN position you must:

  • be a second-year pre-registration nursing student (or in any year after first year). You can apply after you can demonstrate your successful completion of first year,

OR

  • have a Certificate III in Health Services Assistance through an accredited institution. e.g.: Assisting in Nursing Certificate III in Acute Care or equivalent through TAFE.

Top tip: It is important to look at the job application including the essential selection criteria to see if you meet the requirements to apply. It is essential that you address the criteria on your application and provided all the documents that it asks. This can be the difference of getting an interview. Documents like your cover letter, CV and possibly your academic transcript.

Common selection criteria

You must show that you meet the essential selection criteria they are asking; it is best to highlight in your CV the essential selection criteria with examples of how you meet the criteria.

Top tip: the interview questions will generally be based on the selection criteria. Desirable selection criteria you can answer if you meet them but are not essential.

  • A high level of interpersonal, verbal and written communication
  • Demonstrated clinical knowledge and clinical problem-solving abilities
  • Ability to work within a team
  • An understanding of the professional ethical and legal requirements of an Assistant in Nursing
  • An understanding of the role and scope of practice of an Assistant in Nursing
  • An understanding of the organisation’s values e.g.: NSW Health’s Core Values.

What is your scope of practice as an AIN?

AINs assist registered and enrolled nurses with daily nursing care. AINs work under the supervision of a Registered Nurse, Midwife or Enrolled nurse.

An AIN can:

  • attend to patient’s personal hygiene care such as mouth care, showering, eye and ear care and assistance with toileting.
  • provide, remove and clean bedpans and urinals
  • change occupied and unoccupied beds
  • help with general ward ambulation and support mobilisation of a patient
  • assist with repositioning, pressure area and skin care
  • assist with positioning, posture maintenance and comfort
  • help with meals and feeding
  • simple wound dressings
  • apply anti thromboembolic stockings
  • assist with care of the deceased
  • patient observations/vitals
  • patient weighing and measurements
  • can document patient observations and information
  • report all patient observations to the appropriate Registered Nurse
  • promote and maintain a clean, comfortable and safe environment for patients, staff and visitors such as restocking the med room and cleaning up the pan room.

An AIN cannot:

  • give or prepare medications
  • prepare or initiate IV therapy
  • disclose to the patient or family information about the patient
  • write a patient care plan

Where to find AIN jobs

There is no shortage of work for AINs.

You can find AIN jobs on:

  • websites such as job sites such as seek.com, Indeed, NSW Health, and other healthcare employers’ websites
  • some nursing students are offered AIN jobs on their placements. You can also ask the NUM and/or RNs on the ward you’re on and/or your facilitator if the hospital is hiring AINs
  • ask a fellow nursing student or friend who is an AIN if their hospital is hiring or where they found their job. Maybe they can put in a good word for you

Always apply for more than one job advertisement to maximise your chances of securing a job.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association can provide assistance for student members of the association looking to apply for Assistant in Nursing jobs. To join our Association for free as a student member, visit our website. 

Find out more about applying to AIN jobs in the following articles:

How to ace your Assistant-in-Nursing application

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The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association’s Professional Team has put together a quick guide on acing your application to be an assistant in nursing.

What to put on your resume and cover letter

Your resume should outline:

  • your current and past education
  • your qualifications
  • your employment history
  • notable skills and achievements (especially pertaining to the healthcare industry)
  • an understanding of conflict management
  • at least three references with at least one nursing related e.g. facilitator, nursing teacher etc. Your referees’ job title and relationship to you should be outlined, along with current contact details.

Your resume should not:

  • be more than 2-3 pages
  • have your or any pictures on it
  • have your age, religion, marital status or nationality
  • have a non-professional email address e.g.: theboyz69@gmail.com

Your cover letter should address:

  • why you would be good for the job by mentioning how you match the selection criteria.
  • reiterating your main qualifications
  • your strengths as a professional and how they relate to this job

Your cover letter should not:

  • be more than 1 page
  • include colloquial language
  • state your weaknesses as a professional

Before putting together your application

Research the organisation and know what type of patients and services they provide and what are their values and missions. This information could be brought up in the interview and you can incorporate it into your answers.

Top tip: Contact the person in the ad and have a conversation about what they are looking or even better, see if you can see them in person and look at the facility (it creates unconscious bias).

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association can provide application and resume assistance to student members of the Association. To join the Association for free as a student member, sign up here.

How to do well in an AIN interview

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The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association’s Professional Team gives us the low-down on how to do well in an interview to be an assistant in nursing (AIN).

How to prepare for your interview

  • Accept the interview time given, don’t email asking to change the time to your convenience, move your schedule around the interview time given to you.
  • Find out the exact location of the interview and figure out how to get there on time.
  • Make sure you have 100 points of ID like a passport and drivers’ licence and photocopies of them
  • Make sure you bring qualification certificates and photocopies of them
  • Wear smart casual clothes and shoes with neat hair, minimal jewellery and make-up
  • The questions you will be asked in the interview will be based on the selection criteria. Review the criteria and prepare for possible questions. You must match all the selection criteria to be hired. Tailor your answers to the selection criteria available on the job advertisement.

The interview

What to do in the interview

  • Make sure you turn up to the job interview ahead of the time specified.
  • Turn off your mobile
  • Thank the interviewers for having you.
  • Emphasise your past and present achievements relating to the skills required.

What not to do

  • Talk too fast. Take a deep breath and talk at a normal rate.
  • Looking nervous. Body language is 93% of communication. Ensure your body language is open and friendly
  • Talking too much – state your answers clearly and succinctly
  • Swear or say derogatory comments about previous workplaces or colleagues
  • Talk about your personal life
  • Remember water is your friend. Take a sip to refocus.

The questions

A panel of up to 1-5 people will ask you a list of questions. It’s important that you answer them correctly and have knowledge about what AINs do and what is out of an AINs scope of practice. These questions will usually be field related. Here’s a list of common questions (and the correct answers) asked in AIN interviews.

Q: You walk up to a patient to do their vital signs and you notice they are pale and don’t seem to be breathing. You call their name, but they are not responsive. What do you do?  

A: Follow DRSABCD. Look for danger. Check if they’re responsive. Then call for help. For a hospital/clinical setting: Call the emergency button on the wall by the patient’s bed.

For a community/non-clinical setting: Call the ambulance and commence CPR.

Q: A Registered Nurse asks you to give the patient their medications for her. What do you do?

A: Explain in a respectful manner that you cannot do that as it is out of your scope of practice. As an AIN, you are not authorised to give medications.

Q: The Registered Nurse tells you that she is under a lot of pressure and that she gives you permission to do the patient’s medications. What do you do?

A: You would say you are not legally authorised as stated in the question above but offer to help her do other tasks that are within your scope of practice, so she has time to give her medications.

Q: Can you tell us about a time you have had to deal with conflict or a difficult situation? How did you resolve it?

A: Try to recall a time on placement or in your previous jobs where you were put in a difficult situation with a patient, their family, a co-worker or a customer. If you cannot think of one of these maybe think about a situation at home where you have had a difference of opinion and how did you work through it. Your answer is looking for you to show the skills of communication respect and problem solving. This is through using tools like talking to them calmly and respectfully. Addressing their feelings/problems coming to a compromise together where both parties feel heard and understand what happened.

Q: Give me an example of a time when you had multiple tasks to be completed and how you managed this.

A: Provide an example of how you manage university assessments, work, placements, sports and home life. This is about prioritising and time management. Provide examples how you had to do this, and personal experience is ok in this context, as you have most likely not got many work-related examples. But you can use work related examples if you have them.

Q: You have a big workload with many tasks to do in a short amount of time. How do you manage your workload?

A: You can answer this in many ways. One example is that: you look at what you have to do and prioritise the most important/pressing task and go down the list from most important to least important.

Q: What qualities do you have that would help you to succeed as an Assistant in Nursing?

A: Any qualities that you have that relates to nursing such as empathy, good communication skills, time management, the desire to help people, etc.

 Q: The hospital/organisation’s CORE values are collaboration, openness, respect, and empowerment (they change depending on the institution, but the principle is the same), how would you incorporate these values into your work?

A: There are a range of answers you could say here. Relate each value to a nursing skill/quality.

 Q: What made you want to be a nurse?

A: Say what you like about nursing and what did lead you to nursing.

At the end of the interview

The panel will ask if you have any questions. You should say you have at least one question. It could be something like are there many opportunities for professional development in this job position? Or any other question you can think of. Thank the panel for their time and that you hope to hear from them soon.

You’ve done your interview. Hopefully you get a call or an email informing you that you have been successful!

If you are not successful, when you’re contacted, ask for feedback and what you can do to improve your interview. Try again next time.

The key is to be prepared.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association can provide assistance for interview preparation for student members of the Association. To join for free as a student, sign up here.

Tips for a speedy registration

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Towards the end of each year, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) receives a high volume of applications for new registrations.

As a new grad waiting to start work, it can be stressful if there’s a delay on your registration.

How to make sure your application isn’t held up

  • Read and make sure you understand the instructions.
  • Take your time and ensure you’ve submitted all required documentation in the format they require.
  • Make sure include you as much information as you can so it’s a quick assessment
  • When having documents certified, please follow the Australia Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s (AHPRA) instruction, and note that the certification for documents containing photo identification is different from other documents.

The application process can be slowed if you:

  • do not supply all the correct information
  • don’t submit accompanying documentation in the specific format required

If you believe that you may need to make a declaration on your application, please contact the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association to seek prior advice.

You’ll be given the opportunity to upload new information to your registration application as and when required e.g. identification of a graduate program commencement date.

You should make your application for registration three months before you expect to complete your course. You do not need to wait until you have completed the course requirements to apply. Your education provider will let AHPRA know once you have successfully completed the course requirements.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association provides registration assistance to its student members. If you’re a NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association student member in need of support, you can contact them here.