Working as a nurse can be a tiring experience, even if you have been working for decades. That is the key reason why young graduates from nursing programs pay great attention to acquiring the right skills and picking up the right subjects. Generally, when students have to think about training experiences, they have to choose one of the many options available in the Australian healthcare system.
Many students opt to work in aged care. Research conducted and published by the Western Sydney University has shown that nursing students who worked as assistants in aged care during their undergraduate training are equipped with several relevant skills to enter the nursing job market even before they graduate.
Aged care is one of the most fascinating verticals in the healthcare industry. One gets to work with the most vulnerable and yet experienced people. This forces an individual to be proactive, soft, and yet professional in her/his conduct. That is one of the key reasons why nursing students who assisted in aged care turn out to be very well-prepared for future nursing roles.
Also Read: Which Aged Care Courses you should choose?
In particular, they pick up critical skills like:
1. Improved Communication Skills: Working with aged people would push you to work on your communication. Everything you say has to be clear and simple to understand. At the same time, you have to develop good listening skills to proactively learn what an individual might need. These experiences help you sharpen your communication skills and put you ahead of the curve, even before you graduate.
2. Deeper Understanding of the Healthcare System: Australia is home to a complex but largely functional healthcare system. Young professionals who are assisting in aged care get first-hand exposure to a large spectrum of the healthcare system. While other students might have an awareness of the system, their understanding is not as comprehensive as their peers who have worked in aged care.
3. Building Relationships: Unlike child-care or nursing itself, aged care requires a very personal touch. Every assistant is working specifically with an adult who is vulnerable and often requires help in everyday tasks. Success in this profession is possible only for those who can establish a relationship with these aged people. Nursing students working in aged care get to test and hone their relationship-building skills while working with aged people.
Also Read: What are the 5 important points that can affect your Career in Aged Care
4. Removing Work-Anxiety: Despite all the training, the first day as a professional nurse can be quite stressful. You are essentially responsible for someone’s life. As you proceed in your career you will be responsible for more lives. Having worked in aged care helps young professionals understand that they have the space to work with what they have been taught. Successfully being able to execute the procedures they have learned prepares them to perform as a professional from day one of working as a nurse. Aged people need special care and after having provided them exactly that, working as a nurse becomes a relatable task.
It wouldn’t be accurate to assume that self-isolation and lockdowns haven’t had an impact on people’s mental health. While we all have got a chance to work on our personal relationships due to the lockdown, some of us are still juggling between professional and personal responsibilities. Working parents are especially going through a tough time, managing between work and family-time at home.