Our Graduate Nurse Program is designed to support registered nurses in their first year of practice and provide opportunities to consolidate both theoretical and clinical skills.
Applications for our 2025 Graduate Nurse Program will open 27 May 2024 to 21 June 2024.
About the program
At the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), people are at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to our graduates' wellbeing and success and each year support over 200 Graduates making the transition from student to registered nurse (RN).
"Overall my grad year has been such a good experience for me. The flexibility, support, sense of community and overall culture has been amazing."
The program embodies the RMH values of 'People first', 'Lead with kindness' and 'Excellence together'.
As a graduate nurse, you are an important part of the nursing workforce at the RMH. We are excited to welcome you to a friendly and stimulating working environment to build your confidence and skills as a new RN.
Available positions and requirements
- January, February and March 2025 intakes
- Approximately 207 positions
- Most available positions are 0.8EFT (eight shifts per fortnight) to support your work-life balance in your first year of practice
- Perioperative rotations are full-time
To begin the program, you must have completed your RN qualification by February 2025.
All enrolled nurses (ENs) who are completing a Diploma to Bachelor transition program who will become an RN by February 2025 and meet the other PMCV eligibility criteria are encouraged to apply.
Note: We are not planning to run an EN Graduate program in 2025.
Benefits
- Salary packaging of up to $11,660 FBT per year, reducing your taxable income and increasing your disposable income
- Secure car parking and bicycle storage available, including shower and changing facilities
- Close to public transport
Find out more about the benefits of working at the RMH.
Education and training
- Opportunity to develop a range of nursing skills with two six-month clinical rotations across a wide variety of specialties
- Graduate-specific four-day orientation program to set you up for success
- Four graduate professional development and training days including the internationally accredited ACTION™ program (see Melbourne Clinical Simulation Centre to learn more about the ACTION™ course)
- Specialised graduate preceptorship model across all clinical areas
- Smooth transition to the ward with minimum seven supernumerary days across both rotations
- Additional professional development opportunities including regular ‘Grad Tutorials’ and the Graduate Nurse Network
Wellbeing and support
- Dedicated Assistant Director of Nursing and Early Career Nurse Educator to prioritise the needs of our graduate nurses and offer additional expertise and assistance
- Extensive network, including ward-based Clinical Nurse Educators and Clinical Support Nurses, highly skilled within the speciality area to support you
- Free wellbeing support 24/7 via our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with Converge
Program completion
- Ongoing contract for career security
- Supported transition into employment following completion of GNP facilitated by the Nursing Workforce Unit
- A celebratory graduation event on completion of your Graduate Nurse Program
Why choose the RMH?
We have a team of 90 clinical nurse educators and clinical support nurses who are located on the ward. They are close by to offer you expert supervision, support and education and a safe space when you need a moment to debrief.
We are exceptionally proud of our Nursing Education team and the role they play in our Graduate Nurse Program.
Each of our preceptors attend a full-day workshop to prepare them to take on this vital role.
We recognise that your wellbeing is important throughout your career and especially during your transition to nursing practice.
The RMH has implemented a 'Speak Up' culture to give everyone in the workplace the tools to Speak Up if they experience or witness a situation that’s outside of the RMH values. This toolkit is especially important for our junior staff and gives them a structured way to raise concerns or escalate if ever required.
Each ward has Safety Champions to guide staff members to use this model.
We offer many different wellbeing supports, including:
- Our RMH Workforce Wellbeing team with one-to-one support, debriefs and skills sessions
- Access to Converge, a free 24/7 counselling line to offer emotional, life, career and finance advice
- Peer Support program
- Family Violence Contact Officers
- Access to Fitness Passport or the RMH gym for an extra cost
You are always welcome to visit your local educators or graduate nurse program leadership team for a chat.
We are proud to be a workplace that champions diversity, equity and inclusion for our staff, volunteers, patients, visitors and community.
We know that having a diverse group of people working with us across the RMH enables us to be more effective, innovative and creative, and to better understand and reflect the community we serve.
Our goal is for our people to feel safe, included and supported so they can be at their best every day.
Learn more about diversity, equity and inclusion at the RMH.
We have a specialist Early Career Clinical Nurse Educator who runs regular ‘Grad Tutorials’ throughout the year to enhance your clinical and non-clinical skills. Previous sessions have included, transition shock, ECG interpretation and time management.
You will also participate in four study days, including the internationally recognised ACTION™ (Acute Critical and Threatening Incidents Occurring Needlessly) course. Worth $495, the ACTION course is free as part of the program. See Melbourne Clinical Simulation Centre to learn more.
We also offer extended clinical skills, GNP professional development day and preceptorship. Our ward areas have regular in-services to keep upskilling your clinical knowledge too.
Each year we invite expressions of interest for the Graduate Nurse Network. Graduates meet regularly to provide feedback on the program, participate in organisational events, improvement programs and organise social events for the group. It provides a great opportunity to network with other graduates and develop leadership skills.
Our Nurse Unit Managers, Associate Nurse Unit Managers and clinical nurse leaders are there to assist, support and listen to all staff, especially those new to a clinical area or role.
Across the hospital there are several clinical nurse consultants who can be accessed via pager for expert advice including stomal therapy, intensive care, palliative care, discharge planning, and infection prevention to name just a few.
The RMH is a major trauma hospital and one of the largest public healthcare hospitals in Australia. We have a diverse array of clinical specialties and our clinical rotations aim to expose you to a wide variety of patient presentations and models of care that reflect the advances in modern healthcare.
You will have the opportunity to preference both of your clinical rotations after your offer of employment. We read every single one of your preference descriptions and take these into consideration when allocating your rotation wards.
The RMH Parkville
- Acute medical unit
- Cardiology and Cardiothoracic
- Colorectal and Hepatobiliary
- Day medical centre
- Emergency
- Emergency General Surgery
- General Medicine and Respiratory Medicine
- Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant
- Infectious Diseases
- Neurosurgery and Neurology
- Nursing Pool
- Specialist Clinics (Outpatients)
- Palliative care
- Perioperative services
- Plastics and Orthopaedic Trauma
- Kidney Care, Endocrinology and Dialysis
- Vascular, Urology and Gastroenterology
The RMH Royal Park
Residential Aged Care
We are excited to include our Residential Aged Care facilities as a graduate rotation in 2025.
In the Care of the Older Person stream, Graduates have the opportunity to complete a rotation in one of our Residential Aged Care Facilities and Sub-Acute wards at the RMH Royal Park:
You can preference this specific stream as part of your application.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital graduates are highly sought after within the healthcare sector.
After the Graduate Nurse Program, you are supported by the Nursing Workforce Unit to transition to your next role that aligns with your career aspirations. 90 to 97 per cent of our graduates choose to continue employment at the RMH.
Over 4,000 nurses work at the RMH across many different specialties and positions. This gives you a wealth of career opportunities after your graduate year.
We also offer clinical and leadership programs for further education and development throughout your nursing career.
RISE (Registered Nurse Introduction to Speciality Education) Program
Many of our Graduate Nurses choose to start a RISE program after their graduate year. This is a free six- to 12-month supported program lead by our local education teams, designed to advance your nursing practice by providing theoretical and clinical education.
Towards the end of your graduate year, you’ll be invited to a specialty showcase where you can explore the different RISE programs available.
Find out more about our RISE programs.
Postgraduate programs
If you wish to continue your specialty study, we offer clinically supported postgraduate programs in a wide variety of areas. We have partnered with five tertiary institutions to support your theoretical learnings in the clinical space with the guidance and support of skilled clinical educators and our multi-professional team.
Find out more about our postgraduate nurse programs.
Ready to apply?
Learn more about how to apply for the Graduate Nurse Program.
For more information, contact the Transition to Practice Programs team at gnprecruitment@mh.org.au or call 0408 179 288.
Links & documents
300 Grattan St, Parkville, Victoria
Ground Level West
300 Grattan St, Parkville, Victoria