Agency Considerations, Expectations & Insight
The life of an agency nurse or support worker is one of variety and puts you in the driver’s seat
Whether you’re looking to supplement your primary job with top-up work, or seeking full-time hours of employment, partnering with Nurses Now gives you freedom of choice.
Leveraging our long-standing relationships shared, Nurses Now is able to provide you with employment opportunities with many of Australia’s leading healthcare organisations.
Whereby you’re able to choose the healthcare sector(s), where, when and how much work. Noting that Nurses Now require a minimum 2 shift per week commitment from our staff, unless otherwise mutually agreed. Allowing you to focus on direct patient, resident or client care, returning to the primary reason why you chose a career in healthcare in the beginning.
If this reads like the opportunity you’ve been seeking, then we’ve compiled some employment expectations and things to know below, that will set you on a course of nursing agency success.
Agency Staff skills
Agency nurses & support workers need to be flexible and attentive, so they can provide a high level of care across potentially multiple care recipients and varied locations. Skills to enable your success as an agency staff member include:
Medical Assessment – Agency nurses & support workers whereby not always familiar with the care recipient, should process great observation skills. Thus enabling evaluation and assessment of a care recipient’s health and wellness.
Delivery of Care – Experience with providing treatment to care recipients is a necessity, since agency nurses/support workers will need to alleviate injuries and illness, administer medication, and support overall client well-being.
Attention to Detail – A high level of attention to detail is particularly important for agency nurses/support workers, since they need to be aware of both the clients’ symptoms and any changes to, assess their health, and provide documentation to other care providers.
Critical Thinking – Agency nurses/support workers must have the ability to quickly respond to changing client circumstances. Whereby the capacity to assess a situation and make critical assessments in relation to client care is crucial.
Time Management – As an agency nurse/support worker, you will likely frequent multiple healthcare locations, in their time of roster vacancy. As such, agency nurses/support workers must possess excellent time management and scheduling skills.
It’s both best practice and a requirement to arrive at least 10 minutes prior to the time that you are rostered, so that you are prepared and ready to receive handover and commence work at the starting time of each shift.
Communication Skills – Agency nurses/support workers should also be strong communicators. From arrival to an unfamiliar site/service, to speaking directly to care recipients and providing vital information to other medical professionals, there are a multitude of circumstances whereby a strong ability to communicate is an advantage.
Employment Variety
Nurses Now staff are provided with a wide-ranging number of opportunities, instead of working in a single facility/healthcare site, as an agency nurse/support worker may work within many different healthcare sites/services, from single one-off shift coverage, through to contract assignments as desired.
Healthcare sites/services are reliant upon agency staff when roster vacancy is identified. As such, with this staffing requirement and variety presented, the role of an agency staff member requires a high level of knowledge, collaboration with other healthcare professionals, carers and care recipient’s family members. Whilst a ‘can-do’ attitude & exhibiting initiative are key attributes of the agency nurse/support worker.
Roster Availability
Your work availabilities will always dictate the amount of work you are eligible for, i.e. the greater the work availabilities you have, the greater opportunities you have of getting the hours you would like, to best suit your lifestyle.
It is therefore important that you maintain your availability in your roster App. Good communication and transparency with your availability is paramount, to receiving the shifts that you desire.
Documentation & Client Records
No matter the healthcare sector, there is always a requirement for patient, resident and client documentation. As an agency nurse maintaining detailed patient, resident and client information regarding symptoms, health issues, or treatments is paramount. Whereby providing this documentation and reports to doctors and permanent staff to support the client’s care activities.
In this aspect of the role, agency nurses need strong attention to detail and excellent communication skills.
Advantages of being a member of the Nurses Now team:
- Scheduling is flexible. Shifts preferences and workplaces sites/locations can be chosen by you.
- Family, lifestyle and personal obligations can be taken into consideration when scheduling your roster.
- Agency work allows you to work in different facilities, providing diversity. Whereby you can be exposed to different healthcare specialities. Growing your skillset and experiences.
- Nurses Now have strong rates of pay, with higher hourly rates than full-time facility positions. Maximising your remuneration for your time worked.
- Travel and accommodation expenses are covered in instances whereby nurses choose to work in rural areas.
- Ongoing staff and personal development education & training provided, at no expense to you. Whilst also providing to you AHPRA recognised CPD points.