Career Profiles

Career Profiles

Nursing & Midwifery

Introduction
Make the decision to become a Nurse or a Midwife and you are choosing to make a positive and lasting contribution, not only to the individuals you will support and care for, but to your whole community. Nurses and Midwives have always performed a vital role in our community. Today, they are highly valued for the range and extent of skills and knowledge they possess in fulfilling their duties. The impact that these dedicated women and men have on our society stretches far beyond the bedside into many specialities and disciplines. Nurses and Midwives enhance the lives of patients or clients in their varied duties as carers, advocates and educators. They work within teams of skilled health professionals, supporting one another and adapting their abilities and expertise to reflect continuing advances in health service provision, nursing and midwifery.

Careers in Nursing and Midwifery are rewarding and challenging, providing widespread opportunities to work in many areas in hospitals, within the community, in universities and overseas, while offering unparalleled job security. Nurses and Midwives make up the largest health professional group in the world. They are constantly in demand, both within Australia and overseas. The portability of Nursing and Midwifery offers the choice of where, when and what type of work to do. Nursing and Midwifery are well-paid professions and with allowances for shift work, there is the opportunity to earn even more. Salaries depend on the state or territory in which a Nurse or Midwife is practising, although the starting salary for a Registered Nurse or Midwife is in line with starting salaries for other professions, such as teachers and physiotherapists. To find out the latest information on activities, salaries and jobs for graduates working in Nursing and Midwifery go to www.gradsonline.com.au .

Varied working hours with the flexibility of shift work means that Nurses and Midwives can choose to work part-time, allowing them to have a career that will accommodate family and other commitments, such as further study, sport, recreation, farm or business responsibilities.

In Nursing, there is the choice of numerous career pathways within the hospital setting, such as intensive care, emergency, neurology, orthopaedics, radiology, communicable diseases, research, paediatrics and special care nurseries, to name just a few. Nurses also work in a wide variety of settings within the community, including private clinics, aged care facilities, the Defence Forces, schools, industrial sites, remote areas and many more. There are opportunities in education, management, research, remote retrieval services, government, health promotion and sales.

In Midwifery, there are also career pathways both in the hospital and in the community. Increasingly, Midwives in Australia and overseas are providing continuity of care to women, right through pregnancy, labour and birth and the postnatal period. Much of this care is now based in the community, where Midwives are educated to provide care to healthy women during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period on their own responsibility.

All Registered Nurses are required to complete a Bachelor of Nursing and there is the opportunity to pursue further study in Midwifery or specialist areas of practice, such as critical care, palliative care, aged care or management.

Midwives have traditionally undertaken a three-year university degree in Nursing and then completed a postgraduate qualification in Midwifery to be eligible to be registered as a Midwife. More recently, three-year university degrees in Midwifery and double degrees have commenced in some states (NSW, SA and VIC). These qualifications can be combined with other disciplines like Law, Marketing, Health Promotion or Psychology, providing even more possibilities for interesting work and dual careers.

This vast range of choice within the health and allied industries means that there is an interesting career path to suit every person attracted to Nursing and Midwifery in the 21st century.

Imagine a world without Nurses and Midwives and you will realise how critically important they are to the provision of health services in our society.

In this section, you can read more about Nursing and Midwifery, and see profiles of people working in these fields.

Download a complete copy of a Career in Nursing or Midwifery below.