Evaluating Nursing Career Opportunities In Australian Health Care: Essay.

Evaluate career opportunities within the current labour market with a specific focus on target industry (health care).

This task requires you to write a report to evaluate career opportunities (nursing) within the current Australian Labour Market with a specific focus on your target health care industry. Regardless of your experience and career aspirations, understanding the requirements of this industry including employment trends and workplace opportunities are important considerations in your career development.

Demand for Nursing Services in Australia

Nursing is a very fundamental profession in the lives of people in all communities across the globe. Nurses are the first healthcare practitioners to receive patients and also play an important role in taking patients through the healthcare procedures. Even as such, the demand for healthcare services will almost always surpass the provision of the same by various healthcare providers. For instance, in Australia, the demand for nursing services is on the rise following slower new entries into the profession, increasing general and older population requiring nursing services, and there being an increasing retirement of the older nursing workforce. As such, nursing undergraduates need to customize the skills and knowledge and orient themselves to take up these opportunities (Finch et al., 2013. pp.681-704). Having a sound understanding of the dynamics of the healthcare labor market can go a long way to suffice the situation. In this paper, the focus will be on analyzing the current labor market trends in the Australian healthcare industry for the purpose of evaluating future career opportunities in nursing 

In Australia, the healthcare sector happens to be one of the largest and fast growing industry and accounts for approximately 10% of all job advertisements in any given year. Of these 10% healthcare job postings, up for 30% are nursing related job advertisements. The healthcare industry employs directly up to 8% of the total Australia workforce [Indeed Hiring Lab 2018]. In 2018, 1,663,900 people were accounted to have been working in the healthcare industry. The increasing demand for new healthcare practitioners throughout Australia is driven by an increasingly aging workforce population [Department of Jobs and Small Business, 2018] 

According to Indeed Data on job postings, nursing is one of the occupations with the highest job postings and is continuously ranked number one amongst other health professions. Nursing is followed by healthcare managers in job postings and accounts for 13% of the same. General practitioners and social workers account for 9.2% and 5.8% respectively. During the last one decade, employment in the healthcare industry has continuously risen by 4%, a sharp contrast to the majority of the economy’s sectors which risen rose by only 1.5%. This trend is projected to carry on as older employees retire and the population grows. In 2017, healthcare job posting and especially nursing jobs were higher than in 2015 by 32%   [Indeed Hiring Lab 2018].

The Department of Jobs and Small Business (2018) report confirmed that there is a decreased number of suitable candidates to fill many of the available nursing jobs. The report deduced  that in Victoria it is much more difficult to find the right candidate for a nursing job than it is in New South Wales and Queensland (0.7, 1.8, 1.1, suitable candidate per job respectively) To this end most states and territories have had sharp nursing professional shortages but Western Australia and South Australia have significantly improved. In 2014, the Department of Health's projections indicated that there would be a shortfall of up to 85000 nurses by the year 2025 and a further 123000 by 2030 [Health Workforce Australia, 2014]. This shortfall has the potential of undermining Australia’s healthcare system as Australia continues having an increasing proportion of older the population and general population increase. Furthermore, Australia is currently not accepting nurses from overseas. According to Burning Glass Technologies (2017), the healthcare sector emerged top on job listings in 2017 in which 21.56% of all total Australian jobs were of a health care orientation  

Employment Trends in the Australian Healthcare Industry

Like it has been established the demand for more nurses is expected to continue to grow not only here in Australia. To this end, any career path a young graduate may choose is good enough to guarantee a fulfilling nursing career experience. For my case, I would like to work either in the aged care or community health sectors. These are two sectors are not only broad-based in terms of career opportunities but also provide a   deeper nursing experience by exposing graduates to exploit virtually all their nursing potential. 

My motivation to work in the aged sector emanate directly from the current Australian healthcare labor market orientation and future trends. Health Workforce deduced that general population surges and an aging nursing workforce population will be responsible for nursing shortages in Australia [Health Workforce Data, 2018]. Furthermore, mental health and aged care are at a greater risk of lacking qualified nursing practitioners. In the aged care sector, career opportunities include family practitioners, registered nurses, and being a psychiatrist. The Master of Nursing that I just acquired has impacted me with the requisite skills, and knowledge to tackle the opportunities and challenges that may come with these occupations. The aged care also has also been my passion since I applied for the Bachelor of Nursing. In the short term, I would like to concentrate on meeting the basic health care requirement of the elderly such as general counseling and other old age complications while in the long term I would engage in areas such as palliative care and psychiatric conditions management. 

Data from Health Workforce (2018) further indicate that for every 110 retiring health practitioners, only approximately 84 qualified practitioners effectively join the workforce. This creates grey shortages for sectors such as community health which is often in the career options of most first time nurses.  It is that thought that future healthcare is going to involve greater health prevention and promotion, the care for the older population. To this end, community health is another viable career option for me.  Community health opens doors for virtually close to all healthcare occupations my master of nursing has oriented me in. 

Community health allows graduates to customize acquired nursing skills and knowledge to cater to the different needs of the community. Possible occupational paths include licensed practical nurse, physicians, registered nurses, and occupational therapist among others. Some of the nursing activities under community health that public health nurses are bound to perform include disease prevention and health promotion, mental health, counseling, immunization programs and maternal care. My short-term  goals are to directly work with the communities by meeting their various healthcare needs. In the long term, I would wish to engage myself with community health policy and programs formulations besides seeking funding for the same 

The Australian universities accommodate approximately 300,000 international students at any one point in time translating to unto 24.3% of the total university student population (Medved et al., 2013; Sawir et al., 2008, pp.148-180). Even though this seems to be a significant proportion, international students find themselves isolated when they are exposed to a totally new culture. Though located in the eastern hemisphere, Australia, by and large, posits a western culture. As such, students from Asia and Africa are likely to experience a culture shock and are   likely to feel lonely, stressed and homesick. Malau-Adult (2011, p.40) contend that language is the main challenge facing most international students. Although it is a requirement for all international students to pass the English proficiency test, most students complain of adjusting to the Australian accent and dialects. 

Nursing Career Opportunities in Australia

These challenges are bound to curtail my career advancement and professional growth. For instance, effectively attending and passing interview will be a big hindrance to my getting a job due to the language barriers. Moreover, I am bound to find it challenging to work comfortably with individuals with different cultural orientations from what I am used to. This will obviously impact on my productivity. Overcoming these challenges will necessitate me to start orienting myself, appreciating and getting used to other cultures. Moreover, Campbell (2012. pp.205-227) observes that effective constant interaction and communication with different students will greatly help elevate my language skills.

I believe I am up to the task for the challenges and opportunities that the nursing profession has to offer. To this end, my dream is to secure employment from some of the top-notch healthcare facilities here in Australia. One such healthcare organization is the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH). RMH is situated in Parkville, Victoria which is an inner suburb of Melbourne. This makes it accessible by and large eliminating any transport and commuting problems. It is one of the biggest and leading Australian public hospitals having been in existence as far as 1848. Like has been my aspiration in the nursing profession, RMH offers the very professional growth opportunities that any young nursing graduate may wish for.  RMH is known to extend outstanding healthcare and treatment to millions of Victorians as well as elevating outcomes through elaborate medical research programs and training opportunities [The Royal Melbourne Hospital, 2018]. This orientation perfectly augers with my career goals and interests as I intend to continuously develop in the profession. The skills, experience and professional values and the nursing code of conduct I have gained during and after my undergraduate studies make me feel competent to work in such an institution.

The Mater Hospital which is located in Brisbane was established to cater to the healthcare needs of the Brisbane community in 1911. Like RMH, Mater Hospital extends great opportunities for nursing career growth and professional development bearing the fact that the hospital is located on the South Brisbane campus. The facility is founded on a clinical excellence footing with a strong commitment to quality, secure, compassionate healthcare services that are patient-oriented [Mater Hospital, 2018]. My current nursing prowess, skills, interests and experience and future career goals make me fill to be in tandem with the values that this institution holds dearly. This gives meet the confidence that I am best suited to start off a career at the Mater Hospital. 

In Sydney, I am would seek employment at the St Vincent's Hospital which is situated in the inner suburbs of Sydney. Just like the other two, St Vincent's Hospital has a deep commitment to education and professional growth.  The continuous education and training opportunities in this hospital ensure that the services provided to patients are up to date, meet primary nursing standards as well as the expectations of patients, the hospital and the community at large [St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, 2018] These opportunities make me feel competent to be part and parcel of the St Vincent’s Hospital workforce as my career goals and professional values align with those of the institution. Situated at the heart of Sydney, commuting to and fro the hospital will not be a big challenge. 

Shortage of Qualified Nursing Practitioners in Australia

The nursing profession is increasingly becoming more competitive across the globe as i s the case in other major professions. To maximize my employability, I have undertaken the Master of Nursing. While still seeking for my dream nursing job in a leading healthcare organization, I will in the meantime engage myself in various volunteer and community-based healthcare-related activities.   El Haddad, Moxham, and Broadbent, (2013. pp.233-238) contends that this gives graduates a leverage to back upon during job application and tackling interviews. Once I land an entry job in my areas of interest, I will go register for a post-graduate nursing program; the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Moreover, to ensure that I progress professionally and subsequently develop my nursing career; I will continuously enroll myself in nursing educational short courses as well as attending nursing seminars, workshops, training besides being engaged in healthcare research projects and federal surveys on the same. 

Indeed, job searching in any industry is no longer the act of simply applying for jobs and waiting to be offered interviews anymore (Menzio & Shi, 2011, pp.468-510). Successful job seekers have been known to employ a number of strategies ranging from creating a formidable social presence to targeting specific organizations. One very effective job search strategy is finding connections and streamlining one’s networks that can lead to getting a job. In doing so, a job seeker can make efforts to get noticed by their dream organization by having an outstanding resume. Customizing cover letters and resumes so that they can link with the qualifications to the job posting hiring criteria can also be very instrumental (Bridgstock, 2009, pp.31-44; Taylor, 2016. p.1). Furthermore, job seekers ought to make sure they rank well on professional networking sites; search for jobs where organizations are hiring and making sure those organizations can find them.

Conclusion

Indeed, having a comprehensive picture of the requirements of any industry constitutes that cornerstone of building a successful career. This Australian healthcare industry research overview will go a long way in helping me to lay formidable yardsticks in my nursing career endeavors. With the scarcity of nurses in Australia, this gives me the audacity to to present my qualifications in confidence to top-notch healthcare facilities. In doing so, I will make efforts of maximizing my employability, engage in promising job searching strategies besides shunning intercultural challenges that may hinder me from advancing in my career endeavors in either aged care or in community health.

References

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https://docs.jobs.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/australianjobs2018.pdf Accessed 16/8/2018

Burning Glass Technologies. 2017. “Labor Insight Real-Time Labor Market Information Tool.”

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Bridgstock, R., 2009. The graduate attributes we’ve overlooked: Enhancing graduate employability through career management skills. Higher Education Research & Development, 28(1), pp.31-44.

Campbell, N., 2012. Promoting intercultural contact on campus: A project to connect and engage international and host students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(3), pp.205-227.

El Haddad, M., Moxham, L. and Broadbent, M., 2013. Graduate registered nurse practice readiness in the Australian context: an issue worthy of discussion. Collegian, 20(4), pp.233-238.

Finch, D.J., Hamilton, L.K., Baldwin, R. and Zehner, M., 2013. An exploratory study of factors affecting undergraduate employability. Education+ Training, 55(7), pp.681-704.

Health Workforce Data 2018. Health Workforce Summaries. [Retrieved from]

https://hwd.health.gov.au/summary.html. Accessed 16/8/2018

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https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/34AA7E6FDB8C16AACA257D9500112F25/$File/AFHW%20-%20Nurses%20detailed%20report.pdf. Accessed 16/8/2018

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https://www.hiringlab.org/au/blog/2018/04/24/nursing-shortage-australia/. Accessed 16/8/2018

Mater Hospital, 2018. Mater Hospital Brisbane. [Retrieved from]

https://www.mater.org.au/Home/Hospitals/Mater-Hospital-Brisbane. Accessed 16/8/2018

Medved, D., Franco, A., Gao, X. and Yang, F., 2013. Challenges in teaching international

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Menzio, G. and Shi, S., 2011. Efficient search on the job and the business cycle. Journal of Political Economy, 119(3), pp.468-510.

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Sawir, E., Marginson, S., Deumert, A., Nyland, C. and Ramia, G., 2008. Loneliness and international students: An Australian study. Journal of studies in international education, 12(2), pp.148-180.

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https://www.thermh.org.au/about/about-rmh. Accessed 16/8/2018

Taylor, L., 2016. What is employability and what does it mean for you?. How to Develop Your Healthcare Career: A Guide to Employability and Professional Development, p.1.