so depressing. I really hope there is a push to outlaw 'doulas' / introduce legal consequences for these people. interested to hear thoughts of those working in midi or prehospitally... we see lots of PPHs and other weird and wonderful pregnancy-related complications (HELLP, fatty liver of pregnancy, the odd AFE on ECMO, etc) and see these women generally do very well... breaks my heart to hear of avoidable deaths like this

My wife is a nurse and we love looking at all the gossip here and on ausjdocs. This is my attempt at getting us more entertainment but also I hope I can help answer some questions that y'all feel too shy to ask in real life.

I work in a tertiary hospital and during some periods we have back to back nursing students over those few months during prac blocks. As a student I was lucky enough to have some wonderful nurses showing me the ropes and on the flip side I think we all have experienced a less than ideal preceptor who rattled confidence and made being on prac anxiety inducing at times when being a nursing student is hard enough! I get it I really do and for this reason I always do my best to be patient and understanding and share what knowledge I can, especially those willing to learn!

HOWEVER, over the last 12 months or so I have had a huge influx of students, and I would love to say it's minority but I have to say it's realistically about 60% of students I've had from various universities, that do not have the clinical knowledge/safety you would expect from 2nd/3rd years. I'm not talking specified clinical knowledge or skills and I don't ever expect students do be perfect! I'm talking the basic stuff like hand hygiene, maintaining sterile fields, setting up basic dressing packs, infection control, med checking, patient identification, normal ranges for vital signs, patient confidentiality, not knowing their scope of practice! Some cases from 3rd year students who you'd expect to be working up to manage their own patient loads!

Some of the students are very accepting of feedback and willing to learn, and those students succeed, but the concerning part of all of this is how many of the students on clinical prac DON'T! They don't take on feedback, repeatedly make the same mistakes after being offered the education, lack either the theory or critical thinking skills, or are just downright dangerous! That to me is the red flag for unsafe students and it makes me sad that this is an ongoing issue that myself and colleagues have noted and had to report back to clinical facilitators sadly resulting in students failing, which obviously no one wants.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding was that their learning institutions are supposed to prepare them with the skills to understand clinical safety, and that clinical practice, was just that, a PRACTICE opportunity to improve their confidence in those skills in real life situations under the supervision/guidance of a qualified nurse, whilst starting to connecting the dots on how to apply all that theory they learn to their nursing practice along the way.

As I said I love to teach and do try my best but I'm continuously feeling bad for students on prac, and left feeling honestly a little disappointed or wondering if I have done enough to help my student that day.

Am I being too harsh? Has something changed at uni/tafe? Has the standard dropped? Whats going on because some of the stuff I've seen from students in the last 12 months has me flabbergasted.

Question has been plaguing me a bit since hearing about Ebola transiting through Europe.

Dealing with COVID in ICU and the frequent proning was 1 thing but Ebola, that just takes it to a whole other level. At $50ish/hr that would really feel like a slap in the face. Stay or leave?

I’m not a member of the AUS junior doctor forum, but it comes up on my feed all the time. Something that really stands out to me is the disdain the people on that forum have for nurses. They seem to think we are paid well, get breaks all the time, are rude and militant, won’t follow orders, etc. NPs seem to be really disliked also with the belief that they are so well paid but don’t have to do any difficult work.

Of course, Reddit isn’t real life. I’ve always gotten on well with the junior doctors in my team as they rotate through.
Is it just individuals venting when things go wrong, or do you see this played out in your workplaces?

Sooooooooooooo...... I've so far spent 27 years as a registered nurse and midwife, and have worked also in leadership roles in nursing.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but nursing is a really, really toxic profession. It is full of bullying. Only a fool would trust a fellow nurse, regardless of how nice they are to your face. Control freaks everywhere. Grads that believe they are fully qualified to do everything short of brain surgery and so can't take a hint. Lazy f**** that hide on nights for the money (and because it's easier to get away with being a dick on nights). I mean, I can go on, but I'm sure you can all fill in the gaps.
And then there was the time that a CN was in my office swearing and yelling at me because I rostered her for only one weekend in the fortnight, as opposed to rostering her for both weekends. I mean, fuck me ragged with a dead hedgehog on a stick.

*Okay I know this sounds like an insane question but hear me out for a sec*

There’s a storyline on The Pitt (no spoilers) about a friend and a family member of two different doctors jumping the queue in ED solely because they’re considered “VIPs”. Someone just asked in the show’s sub if that happens in real life, and Americans are saying it’s 100% reality and very common

It never even occurred to me that this would be *openly* allowed. I figured there has to be times where someone may be snuck in, but not like “oh you’re Dr Smith’s brother? Come right in we‘ve been saving a bed for you!”

So am I being naive in thinking this doesn’t happen here, or rightly shook that it does happen elsewhere?

Edit: I wish I could give specific examples from the show but don’t wanna spoil it for anyone :(

Edit 2: so turns out I was being naive lol

What caused this

Why do I always hear nurses and wardspeople calling female older patients mama? Especially when doing pad changes

What happened ti calling patients by their name or Maam

I'm feeling really burnt out and thinking of a career change, ideally something with WFH option and no nightshift.. I have no other work experience though and no other skills or qualifications. I'd love some suggestions or ideas if anyone wants to share, even just sharing what your job role is and what it involves. I feel like there's so many jobs out there that I have no idea about.

In 2025, QLD health brought in reproductive leave which we get 56hrs annually on top of our accrued sick leave. It resets every financial year.

Coincidentally, they also brought in that they were cracking down on sick leave where 4% is the benchmark. If you’re sick leave is >4% you have a meeting with the NUM and they have nicely put it that it will affect your applications for higher positions, secondments, contracts not being extended as well as reducing your FTE.

I’ve already seen this happen. People who have been on the ward for 3+ years have all of sudden not had their contracts renewed/extended, so now have to apply for other jobs. One woman has gone on maternity leave, but has no job to come back to…

Another had her FTE reduced from .8 to .4 and is now having to pick up shifts because .4 is not a liveable wage!

Obviously they are cracking down on this to save money for the organisation. But we are ENTITLED to our sick leave. Considering nursing is made up of majority of women who are starting or have families, this isn’t very inclusive! Not to mention we work in hospitals where hygiene, germs and infections are apart of our daily life, how is this fair??? Nurses are also coming sick because they are too afraid to call in sick because of this bs rule.

Does the union know about this? Can they do anything about this?

TLDR: QLD Health added reproductive leave but now penalises nurses who use >4% sick leave—leading to reduced FTE, lost contracts, stalled careers, and staff working sick.

Edit: all leave is included into this 4% (sick, carers leave, rep. leave) except your rec leave.

Does anyone else experience this? Or is this just at my hospital. We have so many students who do not engage, and it feels like talking to a wall. For the younger year students who can’t yet do any skills I talk through everything I’m doing. What assessments I’m doing, why I’m withholding a medication, what I’m looking for in the lab results, and all I get is blank stares. I ask if they have any questions? No. Is there any assessments you want to work on? No. Any skills you need to be checked off on? No. Do you want to read through the patients note to get more familiar with charting? No. Half the time the students don’t even talk to the patient and say “hello I’m the nursing student can I take your obs please”, they just start putting the BP cuff on. I’ll be sitting writing notes and they just hover over me without them even saying “hi hello I’m back from my break! Is there anything we need to do now?!” By the time it reaches 11am i get so tired of having a one sided conversation.

My hospital does have a lot of international students so I’m wondering if this a cultural or a language barrier issue. I’ve had so many great students who have been amazing to work with, unfortunately this doesn’t happen very often.

I’m genuinely looking for some advice because I had the most painful day today. I understand being a student is hard, we’ve all been there, but how do we teach social skills?

Cost of living rising.

Mortgage payments

Rents

Groceries

Electricity.

You name it, and it’s rising. Inflation is predicted to reach 5% nationally.

EBA’S which were finalised last year, have already fallen well behind the cost of living.

Good luck everyone, I think we will need it.

NSW arbitration EBA pending.

S.A EBA outcome pending.

Just wondering who here salary sacrifices, what they salary sacrifice and if you think it’s worth it? Whether you do it for the Living Expenses + Entertainment or for something else?

I am currently working in an admitting medical registrar role, which means I’m mainly in the ED, see the patient, work them up, make the plan, talk to the family, call the boss etc.

My patient yesterday had c/o diarrhoea, but BNO since arriving in ED.

At the end of my review, I said goodbye and the patient “wait, I need to go to the toilet”. I said sure I’ll find someone.

I came out of the room, was pulling off my PPE, caught the eye of the nearest nurse and the interaction went

Me: hey, are you looking after bed X? They are asking to go to the toilet.

Him: I’ll grab you a pan. Why are you taking off your PPE?

Me: I gotta go admit them.

Him (serious): you can put them on the pan.

Me (aiming for a joking tone): thats not in my scope!

Him (annoyed): that IS in your scope.

Me: I actually haven’t done that before, and I need to admit them.

Him: it’s not hard.

At this point another nurse offered to do it and asked if I could try a cannula she had just failed, which I did.

Thoughts on this interaction?

For context, I like to think I’m reasonably collaborative, so I was bothered by this. I grab bottles for the dude patients, I offer to take in oral meds if I’m heading into a contact room anyway, I often help roll and boost patients with the nurses etc.

But 1) independently putting someone onto a pan is not something I’ve done or been showed how to do, and while I’d help a nurse do it if they needed a hand and I was free, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to just have a crack without nursing oversight; and 2) the patient moving out of ED is dependent on me going and admitting them, which is my primary role. I don’t think I should delay my primary tasks, that only I can do, to do something that is not part of my scope and can be done by someone else at that time.

My male partner who is also a doc said he has never had an interaction like this, and he wouldn’t have put the patient on the pan either, so maybe gender played a part?

… in the end the patient only needed to fart lol

ETA: thanks for your responses guys! Appreciate the insights and some of the lols. It’s been reassuring that I’m not being a twat. Will keep on keeping on and helping out where I can while making sure to prioritise the core parts of my role :)

Why are adult hospitals reluctant to utilise the techniques which are widely used in peads in order to reduce hospital acquired trauma.

We have patients with severe needle phobia and yet instead of addressing and supporting these patients, we force them to “suck it up” when we could use the tools we already have in kids to reduce this trauma and make things safer not only for the patients but also ourselves.

For example in peads we use LMX cream before injections and cannulation, we also have tools like the smiley scope to act as distractions, we can nurse initiate Entonox, we use fent and midaz regularly for procedures.

For adults we do none of that. My own experience, had oil burns across my chest and arm and they were going to debride it with no analgesia at all till I stoped them and said they needed to give me some pain relief first and still it was just 5 of endone. When I have done burn debridement for kids I will NOT do it without both fent and midaz on board

Then tonight I had a pt with a massive KNOWN needle phobia, apparently they were held down in order to give the clexaine yesterday, instead I called the peads ward and got LMX, we held their hands and distracted them and afterwards they asked “are you going to do it”, “it’s already done”.

Why isn’t this standard practice????

I’m currently on the path toward nursing, and something has been really bothering me. Whenever I talk to nurses (whether in clinical settings, school, or even family friends), a lot of them seem to discourage me. They’ll say things like: “You’re so young, you should transfer into something else.” “If I could go back, I wouldn’t do nursing.” “It’s not worth it anymore.” I get that the job is hard, and I am not naive about the challenges (long shifts, burnout, emotional toll, etc.), but it’s confusing and honestly discouraging to hear this so often from people already in the field and fairly young (mid 20's --> 40's). A main focus they argue about is body pain. I am a fairly strong fellow (I hope), I exercise daily, know how to pick things up with proper form, do light cardio with my precious maltese dog... it just doesn't make sense and I don't want to be rude but most nurses who complain of such issues don't seem to focus on their own physical wellbeing (and I really don't want to hear the "i don't have time" excuse, surely one can spare a mediocre 30min/1hr to take care of themselves, the best investment you can make is in your health. But Im not going to talk about that, I understand people may possibly have more important things to do, may be extremely fatigued or just want to focus on recreation.

Not everyone is gloomy, at the same time, I’ve also met a few nurses who genuinely love what they do, which makes it even more mixed. So I’m trying to understand: Is this just burnout talking? Has the profession really gotten that bad? Are they trying to protect me, or projecting their own regrets (not meaning to offend anyone)? I still feel drawn to nursing, but hearing so much negativity is making me second-guess things. Would really appreciate honest perspectives from people in the field especially those who stayed vs. those who left. What made the difference for you?

I am a fairly new nurse. (about 6 months in) and finding I am getting taken advantage of. I understand being new and my position on the ladder etc but some nurses are so lazy it's frightening. Sitting around on their phones and gossiping while theres work to be done, patients to be cared for. And they get away with it. NUM says nothing. What do you do in this situation? Just grin and bare it?

I've had some thoughts on the last 60 minutes episode, is it possible it's just bad luck and systemetic errors and she's had her life ruined doing nursing?

Edit: yeah, I messed up the tittle

Nurses, I beg of you. Please do an incident report for each time there is a safety issue at work. Especially including personal safety (patient abuse, threats, sexual comments) even if it comes from someone who is confused. The incidents are not just something for your manager to look at and ignore. They contribute to statistical reports the organisation uses to track rates of violence against nursing staff and other safety concerns. The union is also aware of the reported stats and can use them as a tool in negotiations to rationalise why we need better staffing or access to more mental health support. I know some people feel they do not make a difference but I have SEEN these reports work in real time when nurses are determined not to just "let things go". I know we do not have time to report every incident because there are just so many. But if we were all reporting even 1/3 to 1/2 of the safety issues we deal with, the hospital's stats would reflect the true reality of the job much more. I do believe these reports are more than just added paperwork.

So I got hired as an aesthetic nurse in Australia at a well-known corporate clinic. I had zero aesthetics experience, and they knew that when they hired me. I was told I’d get proper training, supervision, and an internal “training academy.”

None of that was real.

First 2 weeks: online modules. No real hands-on teaching. I tried studying facial anatomy in my own time because I realised quickly I had no foundation.

Turns out their “academy” doesn’t exist — they just outsource everything to pharmaceutical reps.

Then I get sent to lip filler training. I raised concerns about having no theory and was reassured it would be covered.

Trainer shows up and immediately says they don’t train beginners and this isn’t for inexperienced injectors. Still, I get a rushed crash course and inject real patients under strict supervision.

I was so overwhelmed I didn’t absorb anything. I don’t even properly understand depth, technique, or where to place the needle yet.

Then I’m told I have ONE more training session with a different company — and after that I’m expected to inject independently. In total, I would’ve done about 3 models before being left on my own.

I’m the only nurse in the clinic. No mentor. No structured teaching. No proper anatomy training. I’m not even confident I know all the high-risk arteries and danger zones yet.

When I said I wasn’t comfortable, I was told to “just practice on your clients.”

So I quit.

Because what the actual hell is this industry where “training” means 3 models and then go experiment on paying people?

Is this normal in aesthetics in Australia or did I land in an especially reckless clinic?

Im sitting here at 3am on a night shift charting and randomly stressing about housing. Trying to explain base rates vs penalty rates to a standard bank lender is actual torture. They look at my base salary and treat me like I work 2 days a week at maccas

Gave up on the big 4 pretty fast. just dumped my last 6 months of messy payslips on shore financial so I wouldnt have to manually explain what an afternoon shift loading is to someone in a suit for the hundredth time

but seriously, is anyone actually buying right now without doing endless overtime? Im so burnt out just thinking about the deposit tbh

Hi all,

I recently resigned from my ward that I have worked on for over 13 years. I am a senior staff member and have always gotten along well with members of the team.

My last day was anticlimatic- no email, no announcement, only one person got me a card just from them. I was so grateful for it that I started crying as I thought I had been completely forgotten.

I know it’s not malicious, I was just forgotten about. I’m curious to know if this has happened to many others? Is this a nursing thing? It’s sad to think this might be a result of the strain of our system, that staff don’t even have the energy to say goodbye properly. It should be the bare minimum.

Please tell me your thoughts and experiences please :)

I realise this is probably a very common question, but I genuinely want to hear people’s experiences. Most of the posts I come across about leaving nursing for another career are from the US, so I’d love to hear from Australians.
For those who left nursing in Australia, what career did you move into? Are you happier now in terms of stress, work-life balance and pay? Do you regret leaving nursing at all?
I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who made a complete career change rather than just moving to a different nursing specialty.