Behind every New Grad program are educators and coordinators helping newly qualified nurses and midwives navigate their first year of practice.
Recently, NSWNMA brought these members together for a full-day workshop to discuss the challenges they face in supporting New Grads and identify areas they would like to improve in the coming year.
New Graduate Coordinators and Educators play an important role in supporting the transition from student to fully-fledged clinician. While clinical education is a key part of the role, it also involves mentoring, providing guidance, and helping New Grads build confidence as they settle into the profession.
For Ivy Haspela, a Registered Nurse and New Grad Educator from Broken Hill Base Hospital, that support is especially important for New Graduates in rural and remote communities.
“My role is not just about clinical support. [I]t’s also about making sure they’re adjusting well to the environment and transitioning successfully, [n]ot just to their new role but also to living in a remote community.”
She said strong educator support was essential to attracting and retaining graduate nurses in rural areas.
“When they feel well supported, when they feel the hospital environment is conducive to their professional and personal growth, they are more likely to stay.”
The workshop gave members the opportunity to learn from NSWNMA officers across professional, industrial, and political areas, while also sharing experiences with colleagues from across the state. Sessions covered practical topics including writing workplace motions, meeting with local MPs, and approaches to supporting and providing feedback to New Grads.
Just as importantly, the day provided an opportunity for members to discuss the issues they’re seeing in their workplaces and the changes they believe would make the biggest difference for them in supporting new nurses and midwives.
Through group discussions, members identified three key priorities they would like to focus on moving forward:
- Ratios for Clinical Nurse Educators (CNEs) and Clinical Midwifery Educators (CMEs)
- CNEs and CMEs rostered across all shifts
- Protected study time for New Grads
Beyond the group’s key priorities, members discussed a range of issues affecting them as New Graduate Coordinators and Educators across the state, including rural workforce attraction, support for preceptors and mentors, consistency in New Grad programs, and access to affordable housing.
The discussions highlighted that many of these challenges are not unique and are being experienced across a range of workplaces and Local Health Districts.
A key focus of the day was to foster building stronger collaborative relationships between educators, encouraging knowledge sharing, peer support, and consistent approaches to the priorities identified.