Work Readiness

I vividly remember entering the workforce as a new graduate nurse. I felt like a total imposter.

With time, though, what I learned at university started to translate into practice (as it does for every graduate health professional). Upon reflection, there were a lot of other things that I only learned on the job when someone was — pardon my French — trying to screw me over.

Work readiness, I've found, includes far more than you may realise. If I could have these elements of work readiness embedded into undergraduate nursing programs, I would. But in the meantime, I'll talk about them here.

Of high importance is knowing how to maintain healthy boundaries and ways to minimise burnout, which, in turn, foster resilience. There are three other elements that I believe support work readiness for health professionals:

1. Finding and utilising a mentor
2. Knowing what your Nursing/Health Union do and
3. Understanding your contract and enterprise agreement.

Finding and Utilising a Mentor

The phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants" is a metaphor that means "using the understanding gained by major thinkers who have gone before in order to make intellectual progress."

Any new exciting venture we take in life often feels exciting but also scary and sometimes a bit lonely. This is where mentorship supports us. I think of a mentor as a person who stands next to us on a journey we are taking for the first time, because they have been before and they want to support us.

Mentorship gives you a safe space to discuss vulnerabilities, ask any questions without feeling silly, and hear perspectives from someone with lived experience.

Mentorship can evolve naturally, or it can be formally arranged. Either way, you should feel like you trust your mentor, you should feel respected, and you should feel a bit lighter or at least better informed whenever you converse with them.

I'm very grateful for all the amazing mentors I've had in my nursing career and who continue to support me. My first nursing mentor was my older brother's childhood friend, who was a Nurse, Midwife and is now a Paramedic (so kind of a superhero clinician).

When I graduated from university, he supported me in writing job applications, and then he helped me psychologically prepare for the challenges I would face and how to manage them. He also encouraged me to stay excited about the great things I would experience in my career, because he knew how nervous I was.

It probably goes without saying, but try and avoid a mentorship arrangement with a person who has passed the point of burnout and is not enjoying their job. I feel like finding the right mentor is like finding a therapist/counsellor that you click with (the relationship is everything).

Learn more about mentorship and clinical supervision.

Knowing What Your Nursing/Health Union Do

At my Bachelor of Nursing Graduation ball, a Nursing Union representative came to speak to us halfway through the night about the importance of Nurses. He also spoke about the work the union does to continue advocating for Nurses' rights, as well as their pay and conditions.

We loved hearing someone validate our roles so passionately. Being both up from the bar tab and inspired, we all yelled "'YES'! Fists were pumped in the air, and people whistled happily. This was the catalyst for me to join the union the minute I started work as a Graduate Registered Nurse.

I've seen the difference in other professions that don't have a strong union. The effects that this has on those professions are profound. Like Nurses, many veterinarians have entered the profession out of love and care. Veterinarians study extremely hard to get where they are; they need a higher GPA than Medicine to enter the course and the role holds a huge amount of responsibility.

Despite all this, their union is weak (as is their Enterprise Agreement; see more in section 3 below). The latter results in many veterinarians leaving clinical work. They don't have a strong support group, which is really saddening.

Most nurses I know have had to contact the union at one point in their career for support (because of something quite uncouth happening at work, I'm afraid). The role of the union means that, at times, you will contact them for reasons other than 'fun reasons'. Because of this, I think it's better to know your rights and how the union can support you right from the start. Then, you avoid trying to navigate this from scratch during a very stressful point at work.

When you join the union, you increase the total membership number, which means that their ability to advocate for the whole profession strengthens. Membership fees are also a tax deduction, and they give you automatic professional indemnity insurance (PII) when you join.

PII protects members from financial loss if they are sued for negligence or errors in their practice. I know it might be a bit frightening to think about such things happening in your career, but again, we work in a role of high responsibility, so it's important to be informed and prepared.

In my experience, the nursing union workers I've met are super pragmatic, passionate and helpful people. So if you join, perhaps just make time to ask them about common reasons why nurses approach the union, put forward some hypothetical scenarios past them of what you may imagine to be the worst situations at work you may ever/never experience.

From here, you can learn more about how they may be able to help you, as well as their limitations and other supports available.

Understanding Your Contract and Enterprise Agreement

I feel embarrassed to say this, but until recently, I've only started to properly look through work contracts with a fine-tooth comb, and that was only after I had a workplace try and do the wrong thing by me.

Unfortunately, a lot of the fine print/terms and conditions in contracts and enterprise agreements use complicated, legal/profession-specific terms that aren't easy to understand (perhaps deliberately). That's okay, there are people who can help you understand those details. It might be your mentor, a person with legal experience, or an employee in Human Resources (HR).

It's important to note that your contract is not the same as your enterprise agreement. An enterprise agreement is specific to your profession, and your contract is specific to your workplace.

Regarding a contract, not everything is negotiable, but some things are, and you may as well ask. If you read a contract and it doesn't make sense, clarify what it means before you sign it. Contracts will always be in favour of the employer/company, but at least if you understand all the terms and conditions, you can know what to reasonably expect.

In regard to enterprise agreements, again, I only revised mine a few years into my nursing career when I had another workplace try and abuse my rights (can you see a pattern here?).

I'm not saying all of this to make it out like all workplaces in health are evil. I've had wonderful managers who have taken care of me and all my colleagues, and I'm so grateful. However, I've also had other workplaces try to pull the wool over my eyes.

New graduate health professionals tend to be bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, caring and hard-working. These qualities make new graduates a valuable asset. Some people will foster those traits, but others will, unfortunately, take advantage of them.

All these years on, in many ways, I still identify as a new graduate; I love my job, I care deeply, I'm learning every day, and I enjoy being challenged. I'm also a people pleaser by nature (I'm forever in recovery for that). So from one bleeding heart to another, don't change who you are.

Kindness always pays off, but it also makes you potentially easy prey for people who want to capitalise on exploitation.

It's not an 'if you will be treated unfairly/be targeted at some point', it's a 'when'. To say it's unpleasant for someone experiencing this is an understatement. However, do not fear, you just need to know how to work with that when it happens.

So in your early career, invest the time and effort in understanding your contract and nursing agreement. Then, when you are a senior clinician, you can support the junior clinicians in understanding theirs.

Entering the workforce in health is a big deal. New graduate health professionals typically start out focused on helping others in every way, and what a gift these people are in this world for this reason.

For every day that a health professional is in the field, they can be confident, even on the most difficult of days, that they are helping someone, and that's pretty damn special.

That feeling of satisfaction I get through my role and my love for helping others, many years on, has not left me. But now it's also coupled with making sure I take care of myself. And I hope that you, dear new grad, will too.

Thank you, wonderful undergraduate and new graduate health professionals, for all that you do.

If you need guidance or support in navigating your early career as a health professional, you are welcome to email me at: broadleaf.hnp.services@gmail.com.

Who wrote this Guide?

Rasa Kabaila | Broadleaf: Holistic Nurse Practitioner Services

Rasa Kabaila is a Nurse Practitioner specialising in mental health. Her approach is innovative, holistic, individualised, and evidence-based, with a strong focus on recovery-oriented care. Deeply empathetic and passionate about helping others, Rasa began her healthcare career as a personal care worker at just sixteen. She has successfully implemented research-backed clinical therapies for optimising the treatment of anxiety and depression, including pet therapy. Beyond her clinical work, Rasa has volunteered on nursing expeditions overseas and completed Ashtanga Yoga training in Mysore, India. Rasa is also a Conjoint Lecturer with UNSW Rural Medical School and has been an academic tutor for undergraduate nurses and paramedics at the Australian Catholic University and the University of Canberra.

Her first book, Put Some Concrete in Your Breakfast: Tales from Contemporary Nursing, was published by Springer Nature in March 2023 and has since been read by over 17,000 readers. It has also been widely promoted across journals, magazines, and news channels. For more about Rasa’s work, visit her practice website at Broadleaf HNP Services or explore her book, Put Some Concrete in Your Breakfast: Tales from Contemporary Nursing, featured on ABC News, available on Amazon and Goodreads.