Victorian Nurse Specialists

Can you believe it is already October?! Where has the year gone? This morning the VNS office is basking in sunshine and we’re hoping after the recent rain that spring is really on its way.

We held drinks in the office the week before last and it was great to have some our new nurses come in for a drink and give us the opportunity to get to know them a bit better. It was great to see people meet who often work in the same hospitals in the same areas but have never met each other. I guess the next thing we need to think about is Christmas and what we will organise for our staff.

We are in the second week of the school holidays and it is continuing to be busy. We’ve got plenty of work available for anyone looking for extra work as it seems things are not slowing down for the holidays across many of the hospitals. Give VNS a call if you have some availabilities and would like some work or just to say hello.

It’s on again – we’re gearing up for drinks for our nurses in the VNS office next Wednesday 21st September  from 4-5.30. We love have people dropping into the office and saying hello but often it may only be 1 person that gets to say hello as things can get pretty busy around here.

By setting up a this time we can be more organised and stop and chat over a glass of wine and catch up with our nurses properly. One of the challenges for us is that we may speak to our nurses over the phone constantly but never get to see you all as you are spread all over Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and other regional areas. 

We’ve had some lovely feedback this week  about our service from some of new ex code blue nurses which is great . We are really happy to have them on board and hope to see many of them again back in the office to get to know them better.

With the school holidays coming up we’re expecting to be as busy as we were last holidays so if you are thinking about picking up some extra work make sure to give us a call and put your availabilities in!

It’s been another busy week here at VNS interviewing and getting Code Blue nurses in and working. We’ve met lots of lovely people and we are very happy to have them join our fantastic team of nurses.  One thing we have really picked up on is the loyalty of this group of nurses which is a really nice thing to see - our aim is to build the same relationship with them. We’re going to have drinks in the office again soon and hope to see many of our new staff here and mingling with others. Watch this space for more details for drinks…

Today we have had some calls from nurses who have been working with another nursing agency called Code Blue. It seems that the agency has closed today and we have had calls from nurses who have been working with them (for many years in some cases) who are wondering what their next step should be. We will welcome any nurses who would like to join the VNS team as we are always on the look out for well qualified and experienced nurses. We’ve already had increased bookings coming through so please give us a call to see what we can do for you. We want to keep valued nurses in the workforce and let people keep the flexible lifestyle that being an agency nurse gives you.

The Productivity Commission’s final report into Aged Care has been released this month. We have read with great interest the section about the formal aged care workforce as this is what really affects our staff and our clients. With the demand for services expected to increase dramatically in the next few decades, it is anticipated that the workforce will need to quadruple by 2050.

The big question is where are these staff going to come from? The report acknowledges the significant wage gap between nurses working in public hospitals and low wages being paid to personal carers however a campaign by the ANF is calling on the government to look at the issue now. Have a look at the website www.becausewecare.org.au for more details about the Aged Care can’t wait campaign.

We are always looking for ways to keep in touch with our staff. Lina likes to keep in touch via Facebook and of course we always love to see our staff when they drop their dockets in. We may speak to you constantly on the phone but it is always nice to say hello in person!

This morning we opened the office up for breakfast for all staff and had coffee and croissants for anyone dropping in. We’re also trying to catch people at the other end of the day and so on Wednesday 25th August we are having ‘Happy Hour’ from 4-5.30pmwith a glass of wine and some nibbles. It’s a chance to mingle with other VNS staff and the team here in the office. So pop the date in the diary and I will update everyone after the event.

Welcome to our new blog! With school holidays over and winter well and truly with us everyone is busy here at VNS. With agreements in place with St Vincents and Mercy Private, Epworth Healthcare and being on the Public Health tender we are being kept busy with staffing requests from these facilities and all of our other clients across Melbourne and Geelong.   

With so many shifts coming in at the moment we would be happy to hear from any of your friends and colleagues looking for some extra work. Remember if you refer your friends to us we have our referral bonus on offer so it’s another way to earn some extra money.

We now have settled into the new year of registration with APHRA from June 1^st. It seems like we had only just taken a breath from the January re-registration. Again we had many staff report delays in processing times particularly if they didn’t renew and pay online but all is now set for another 10 months. Following the senate report released in June with findings from the inquiry to APHRA we hope that processing delays will be addressed in time for next year.