Clinical communication: Innovative education for graduate nurses in paediatrics

SummaryThe Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) is a specialist paediatric centre in Melbourne, Australia. RCH provides a full range of clinical services including tertiary care and health promotion and prevention for children and adolescents. RCH has 250 beds and treats approximately 32,000 in-patients a year. A total of 280,000 children are seen by this centre annually.The graduate nurse programme (GNP) at RCH has been established for over 20 years, as a twelve-month internship following a three-year bachelor degree in nursing. The aim of our GNP is to support each newly qualified registered nurse through their experience of transition from student to registered nurse. After initial orientation, the programme requires attendance at ten development days. The graduate nurses are supported by preceptors in the clinical environment whose role is to enable the application of new knowledge and skills. The Programme philosophy is that through a combination of reflective practice and individual goal setting, the graduate will fulfil the scope of their practice as set out in their Hospital job description.