Innovative nurse exchange launched

Catholic Health Australia (CHA) has launched an innovative nurse exchange portal to help nurses broaden their experiences as they travel around the country.

Nurse The Nation is a website that is part travel guide, part employment agency.

It matches short-term hospital and aged care vacancies with nurses who are travelling or looking to work in a new environment.

The initiative has no Australian precedent, according to the executive director of People and Learning at Mater Health Service in Brisbane, and the website’s creator.

“We are very excited about the potential for Nurse The Nation to help nurses further their career and earn some money while travelling,” Ms Hudson said.

“It will also help participating hospitals and aged care facilities maintain the staff numbers they need to continue providing quality care to patients.”

The site lets nurses apply for jobs at 50 independent hospitals and aged care facilities throughout Australia and New Zealand, from Hobart to Cairns and Christchurch to Bunbury.

Backpacking graduates and caravanning retirees are particularly encouraged to register on the site.

“We’re trying to attract those people who might otherwise not seek to work as a nurse at a time [when] we are critically short of nurses,” Ms Hudson said.

“We also encourage nurses who work full-time at a Catholic Health Australia member organisation to apply for a short-term clinical placement at another CHA facility.”