Melbourne Registered Nurse Graduate Program

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Our program                                                                     APPLY NOW

St Vincent’s Private Hospital Melbourne is one organisation with four locations. The program is conducted over four sites (Fitzroy, East Melbourne, Werribee and Kew) and graduates should expect to rotate to different sites. Only one application is required to be submitted for the program. We do not require separate applications for each site. 


Our program gives you the opportunity to explore exciting high acuity clinical areas such as cardiothoracics, neurosurgery, major plastic and reconstructive surgery, orthopaedics and colorectal surgery. We also encourage our graduates to experience nursing in specialty areas such as intensive care, recovery, peri-operative and cardiac/vascular catheter laboratory.


Due to difficulties for students completing placements, we are now able to accept clinical tools from all areas except: Mental Health, Community and Theatre (PACU tools can be submitted).

Aims of the program

The overall aim of the program is to facilitate your transition from student to registered nurse. We are completely committed to developing your career and ensuring that your graduate year will be an exciting and rewarding experience.


We recognise that as a nursing student you may have had limited opportunities to explore different clinical areas. Our program is designed to give you these opportunities so that in the future you will have a better understanding of where you would like to focus your nursing career and then consolidate your nursing skills.


 Our program has been designed to:


  • offer you a wide range of rotation options so that you gain comprehensive clinical experience
  • enable you to use your knowledge to achieve quality patient outcomes
  • increase your confidence and strengthen your skills base
  • develop your ability to work independently and as a team member
  • enhance your decision making and critical thinking skills
  • allow you to enjoy your nursing career


Rotations

2 x 6 month rotations will allow you to enhance decision making skills and critical thinking skills across a broad clinical mix. Graduates have the opportunity to nominate which clinical areas they would like to rotate to and we try very hard to match you with your requests. You do not need to have  undergraduate experience in any of the clinical areas. 

The program is conducted over four sites (Fitzroy, East Melbourne, Werribee and Kew) and graduates should expect to rotate to different campuses. 

St Vincent’s Private Hospital East Melbourne is a 12 minute walk from St Vincent’s Private Hospital Fitzroy through the beautiful Fitzroy gardens and St Vincent’s Private Hospital Kew is only 5kms away in Kew. Our Werribee site is located in Melbourne’s western suburbs. All campuses are easily accessible via public transport.


Rotation types

General Ward Rotations

  • Cardiac / Cardiothoracics
  • Thoracics / Haematology / Renal / Palliative Care
  • Colorectal/GIT/Hepaticobiliary
  • Acute Neurosciences (85% acute surgical)
  • Vascular / Orthopaedics / Plastics
  • Neurosciences / Orthopaedics / Urology / Gynaecology
  • Orthopaedics
  • General surgery, Orthopaedics, ENT, Plast

Speciality Rotations

  • Coronary Care / Cardiac Services
  • Day Procedure Unit
  • Intensive Care
  • Victorian Plastic Surgery Unit
  • Paediatrics
  • Theatre- Peri-operative & PACU
  • Cardiac & Vascular Catheter Laboratory
  • Special Care Nursery

Clinical support

The Education & Development team at St Vincent’s Private Melbourne is a recognised industry leader and plays a significant role in the success of the organisation.


We are proud to offer one of the highest graduate to nurse educator ratios in the state, so you can be confident that you will have the support you need to achieve your goals. All of our education team members are hands on and are willing to assist you.


Our graduates receive extensive clinical support on each rotation. You will be allocated a preceptor, clinical coach and education consultant. Clinical coaches provide hands on bedside clinical support and education in a friendly and supportive manner.


On your first ward rotation you will receive a graduated workload to assist you in the transition to registered nurse. You will receive up to two weeks supernumerary time for speciality rotations.


We offer extensive education programs, including a minimum of 5 paid study days as well as access to ward based education, twilight seminars and short courses.


Application details                                                       APPLY NOW

We welcome applications from all universities throughout Australia and New Zealand. You don’t have to have completed a clinical placement with us to apply.


2024 program

Important Dates:


Applications open on Monday, 5th June 2023.


Applications close on Friday, 7th July 2023 at midday.


Eligible applicants must have completed a Bachelor of Nursing Program or equivalent no earlier than 1st June 2023.


  • Local (Victorian) applicants need to register and apply via the Allocations & Placement Service (previously known as Computer Match) – for information regarding this service, please contact PMCV. Applications are submitted via Workday.
  • Interstate and New Zealand applicants are welcome to apply directly to the hospital via Workday. 
  • International applicants (international students who have studied a Bachelor of Nursing degree or equivalent at an Australian university) are welcome to apply directly to the hospital via Workday. 

We offer full time and part time positions (minimum 7 shifts per fortnight).


Applications

It is recommended that you start to compile your application so it is ready to submit when applications open.


All applications must be completed on Workday and include:


  • A covering letter 
  • Succinct Curriculum Vitae (no more than three pages) including:
    • telephone numbers of two clinical referees from second or third year placements (one of whom must be from an adult acute placement of two weeks or longer).
  • Certified copy of academic transcript (including legend)
  • Two certified acute medical or surgical ward clinical assessment tools (eg. ANSAT), 
    • Must be two weeks or longer and either from second or third year placements undertaken in Australia or New Zealand. 
    • We do not accept clinical assessment tools from Mental Health, Community or Theatre (we will accept a PACU clinical tool) nursing placements. We do understand that this may leave you with limited options to send in, and therefore depending on the length of your medical or surgical ward placement and with the approval of the RN Graduate Program Coordinator we may accept clinical assessment tools from one of the above listed placements. You will need to make contact via email to confirm.
    • Please upload the entire document, not just the summary. We require every page of the document including notes pages.
  • Passport sized photo
  • Identification
    • international candidates are required to include a photocopy of their passport
    • local students are required to include their PMCV number
  • An email address

Your full application must be received by 1200hrs (midday) on Frida, 8th July 2022. Applications are to be completed on the HR portal Workday.


Certification of documents

Most universities now use electronic documentation such as Pebblepad, SONIA, eQuals for clinical placement assessment and academic transcripts. Online documents are kept securely by the university so these can be submitted without further certification. Please do not provide links, the documents must be uploaded in pdf format.


Universities that have documents that are handwritten must be certified prior to scanning and uploading.


Please ensure you follow the AHPRA guidelines for document certification available via this link -Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency - Certifying Documents (ahpra.gov.au)


Please address your application to:


Julia Hill

Registered Nurse Graduate Program

St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne

59 Victoria Parade

Fitzroy VIC 3065


Applications received via email will not be accepted.


Interview process

We endeavour to respond to your application within in 48hrs of receiving it. The Graduate Program Coordinator will review all applications.


If you have been selected for an interview you will be contacted via telephone. 


You will have some flexibility when selecting an interview time, the earlier your application is received the more flexibility you will have in selecting a suitable interview time - aim to have your application in at least a week prior to the closing date.


If you have not been selected for an interview you will receive notification via Workday.


Our interviews will commence in mid-July via Microsoft Teams. 


For further information:

Julia Hill

Phone: 03 9411 7331

Email: julia.hill@svha.org.au 

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. At interview you will fill out your preferences for which intake you would like to go into and which clinical areas you would like to rotate through. Every effort will be made to ensure your rotations match your preferences however some areas are more popular than others. We never send any graduate to an area that they have ranked in the lower half of preference lists. Graduates are encouraged to rotate into a specialty area as part of the program. All graduate rotations are to acute care areas, we do not offer rotations to aged care or rehabilitation.
Nurses at St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne receive the same entitlements as public hospitals such as annual leave and superannuation.
We know that you have put a lot of time and effort into preparing your application and we will open and review all applications. Please pay particular attention to your spelling and grammar. It is a good idea to get someone to check your application. Make sure you send in all of the required information. Aim to send in your application at least one week prior to the closing date. We will notify you within 48hrs of receiving your application if you have or have not been selected for an interview. We do this so that you have the opportunity to apply to an alternative hospital if your application has been unsuccessful.

Unsuccessful applicants have often sent in incomplete applications, have incorrectly certified documents, have made a number of spelling and grammar errors or have sent in an application intended for another hospital. Unfortunately we will not be able to offer unsuccessful applicants the opportunity to resubmit part or all of their application.

I am happy to answer any questions you have when preparing your application - just call or email me.
We welcome applications from all universities and it does not matter if you have not had the opportunity to have a placement with us.
Our priority is to ensure that our patients receive the highest standard of care and our nurse patient ratio is determined by the acuity and complexity of the care required. As a graduate you will work in a team of nurses in a collaborative care model.
Our patients have access to full allied health support such as onsite physiotherapy, dieticians, diabetes educator, social work, stomal therapy, occupational therapy and discharge planning. We also have onsite x-ray departments and pathology. These services also offer great support to nursing staff and are always willing to answer any questions you have regarding their service and also patient care.
Our Surgeons and Physicians visit patients at least daily (often more) and actively liaise with the nurses looking after their patients. We also uniquely have medical and surgical residents/registrars and after hours onsite HMO’s who are available to assist you with patient care. Our ICU, Cardiac and HDU units are available for patients who need extensive monitoring and support. You will always have access to the support you need to provide high quality care for your patients.
All of our RN graduates are employed on a permanent ongoing contract. Upon completion of the program you may have the opportunity to work in a variety of clinical areas, including specialty areas or to further extend yourself with post graduate studies.
Our patient mix ensures that you will be able to care for patients who have had highly acute and complex surgical procedures such as open heart surgery, acute interventional cardiac procedures, major orthopaedic and reconstructive surgery, craniotomies and spinal surgery, major abdominal and vascular surgery. We also receive acute admissions from surrounding emergency departments and direct emergency ambulance admissions.
We only require you to complete a maximum of two weeks night duty during the program.