Nursing New Graduate Program Information for Grafton Base Hospital

Name of Facility	Grafton Base Hospital
Contact Person - Designation	Jane Nichols, Nurse Manager Staff Development
Contact Details	Phone: 0266402484 Fax: 0244402499 Email: mailto:Jane.Nichols@ncahs.health.nsw.gov.au
About the facility	Grafton Base Hospital is a fully ACHS accredited 107 bed hospital serving a population of approximately 50,000 people. Grafton is situated on the Pacific Highwayat its junction with the Gwydir Highway, 665 kilometres north of Sydney. Grafton Base Hospital provides acute medical, surgical, paediatric, geriatric, maternity, high dependency, renal, oncology, palliative care and day surgery facilities, as well as emergency and some specialist outpatient services to the people of Grafton and the surrounding districts. Community Health provides a comprehensive range of services including Aboriginal Health, mental health, rehabilitation and extended care, drug and alcohol, HIV/AIDS/Hep C and women's health.
Number of New Graduate positions	5.6 FTE made up of seven 0.8FTE positions.
Links	Nursing Life at Grafton: http://www.ncahs.nsw.gov.au/nursinglife/index.php?pageid=2569&siteid=181
Access to ongoing support, professional development (study days) including supernumerary time and orientation	The new graduate program content and outcomes are benchmarked with other programs across the state and the staff are highly committed and supportive. The objective is to support newly registered nurses in their transition from university students to integral members of the health care team.
Rotations	The program consists of: 12 month full-time contract. A comprehensive one week orientation is followed by rotation through acute surgical, medical, gerontology and recovery wards. Supernumerary time is allocated at the commencement of each new rotation. Further clinical electives are negotiated on an individual basis and may include optional placements in emergency, high dependency, paediatrics or mental health.
Intakes	4 New Graduates in January and 3 New Graduates in April
Where to from here - career opportunities, speciality programs, employment opportunities	New Graduates may progress to Specialty programmes in both Critical Care and Medical/Surgical. Employment opportunities are readily available.
Accommodation	Short term on site accommodation is available at minimal cost.
Social activities	Grafton Base Hospital has an active Social Club as well as a Staff Health and Welfare Group for New Graduates to be involved in.
Links	Grafton: http://www.nnsw.com.au/grafton/index.html
Links to local government, schools, universities and clubs, etc	NSW Department of Education School Locator: http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/schoolfind/locator/?section=showRecord&code=2061 Southern Cross University: http://www.scu.edu.au University of New England: http://www.une.edu.au/health TAFE NSW: http://www.tafensw.edu.au Services Clubs: http://www.clarencetourism.com/services_clubs.htm Sporting Clubs: http://www.clarencetourism.com/services_clubs.htm