CHASING THE REWARDS OF A CAREER IN NURSING? THE TIME IS NOW!

Graduating high school soon? Seeking a career change?
Nursing needs you.

Ruri Yamamoto

Recent Flinders nursing graduates Braden Winders and Ruri Yamamoto have entered into a workforce that needs them at a time like never before. They are both set to benefit from fulfilling and rewarding nursing careers that are swarming with opportunity.

As the global COVID-19 health crisis continues to disrupt economies and claim lives, it has also heightened the need for health workers to upskill in their nursing careers and ease the burden of the pandemic.

Ruri studied nursing in her home country of Japan before eventually coming to Sydney and working as a nursing assistant.

Wanting to gain recognition as a registered nurse in Australia, she was accepted into the nursing program at Flinders, where she ended up supporting the COVID-19 medical response in South Australia.

Ruri took up a position with one of SA Pathology’s drive-through COVID-19 testing stations, swabbing patients for the disease and gaining invaluable practical experience.

“This job really needs everyone working with each other as a team. This is very important in a clinic, and especially when everything changes every day,” she says.

For Adelaide local Braden Winders, it was his final year placement in Alice Springs working with Indigenous communities that affirmed his desire to help people and make a difference.

“I gained valuable understanding and very important perspectives surrounding social determinants of health that I will be able to take with me in any setting as a nurse,” he says.

Braden came to nursing following a brief stint studying classical piano performance before realising he would be better suited to a career in health and care.

“My first nursing placement solidified the belief that I am meant to be a nurse. I remember having that lightbulb moment when it suddenly clicked this job is for me and I love it."

Final-year nursing students Braden Winders.

While the global pandemic disrupted universities across the globe, most of Flinders’ nursing work placements have continued.

As a result, students have boosted the health workforce by providing an extra pair of hands, while gaining invaluable practical experience in real-world settings. Flinders offers undergraduate and postgraduate nursing degrees that can lead to working in a large variety of health care environments.

A career in nursing extends beyond wards, emergency departments and intensive care units. Nurses also work in mental health units, residential aged care facilities, community organisations, general practices, government departments, research facilities, private schools, the armed forces, and aid organisations.

A career in nursing is a career for life. It’s also a career that has promising employment prospects, with the National Skills Commission projecting 13.9% employment growth for registered nurses (2021 – 2026).

Whether you're a school leaver, looking for a career change, or wanting to advance your career through postgraduate studies, Flinders has the right pathway for you.

Our Nursing programs are backed with more than 40 years of experience. Our undergraduate students learn in state-of-the-art facilities that allow for hands-on training and are engaged in over 1,000 hours of work placement to build clinical skills in a variety of settings and make valuable industry connections.

Our pre-registration pathway is open to undergraduate students with no previous formal nursing or tertiary qualifications. Flinders is linked with TAFESA to offer TAFElink, a guaranteed entry pathway for someone with a Diploma of Enrolled Nursing and Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) registration.

Other pathways include the Bachelor of Nursing (Graduate Entry) for graduates who have a degree in areas other than nursing. Nurses like Ruri, with an overseas qualification that is not recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), may also be eligible to enrol into one of our undergraduate pathways.

Whatever the entrance pathway, the outcome of Flinders nursing graduates is the same: sought-after and multiskilled professionals ready to tackle the biggest challenges in the health sector.

Study Nursing at Flinders