Careers Options for Nurses in Paediatric Emergency Medicine

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​Everyone is aware of RN and CN positions in any department, but nursing offers a large variety of career pathways depending on whether your heart lies in education, management or clinical care. Here are some of the options available to nurses. In the future I will be conducting interviews with individuals from each role, giving an insight into the day to day activities and expectations of each role.

Simulation Co-ordinator
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The SimCo takes the lead within a learning environment used to educate nurses and other health care professionals. They will be responsible for the development, implementation and review of clinical simulation scenarios. They will need to have an awareness of simulation programs, mannequins and audio visual equipment and have ability to offer constructive feedback by utilising  debriefing techniques. This is a Grade 6 position.

Clinical  Nurse Facilitator/Clinical Nurse Teacher
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The CNF/ CNT is responsible for working in conjunction with the Nurse Educator to provide support and education mainly at a departmental level. Within the Children’s ED this may involve providing in-services, developing teaching packages, assistance with the maintenance of mandatory competencies and up skilling staff within the department in areas such as triage, resuscitation and shift co-ordination. This is a Grade 6 position

Research Nurse​

Research Nurses are responsible for directing various clinical research projects. They will be involved in screening and recruiting participants, liaising with research and ethics committees, submission of applications, progress reports and maintenance of databases. They will often work in conjunction with medical staff and research organisations. This can be a Grade 5, 6 or 7 position.

Nurse Unit Manager  

The NUM is responsible for service outcomes and achievement of targets for a work unit area. Major roles include working on business planning frameworks, service profiles, projections of department growth and staffing requirements, rostering, management of professional working issues, human relations, staff support and development and reporting to senior management about overall department performance. This is a Grade 7 position

​Clinical Nurse Consultant
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The CNC applies advanced and expert levels of clinical specialty knowledge in their department of employment. They act as a clinical resource for staff, are responsible for looking at clinical practice and activities, benchmark against other departments and offer innovations in clinical practice improvement and models of care. They are involved in development and review of policies and procedure within their specialty area. This is a Grade 7 position.

Nurse Navigator
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The Nurse Navigator works with patients, families and care providers to formulate and implement hospital avoidance strategies. Frequent ED attenders and high needs patients are identified and referred. The Nurse Navigator works to co-ordinate care and support enabling patients to be cared for and managed primarily in the community setting. This is a Grade 7 position.

Nurse Educator
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Nurse Educators take on a clinical leadership role in meeting the educational requirements of the organisation. They provide the leadership to implement evidence based practice and have the responsibility of designing, implementing, teaching and assessing continuing education and academic programs for nursing staff. They review, monitor and evaluate clinical practices to ensure professionals standards are being met. This is a Grade 7 position.

Nurse Practitioner Candidate 

Some hospitals offer a Nurse Practitioner Candidate program to enable nurses to train to be a Nurse Practitioner in the clinical setting whilst being paid at a grade 7 pay rate. Nurses in this position will have assistance from mentors within their department and it offers a great benefit to the individual, as studying a masters of Nurse Practitioner without a candidacy position means that clinical hours have to be completed in your own time without payment. It can also benefit departments to be able to train Nurse Practitioners to meet the clinical need, models of care and organisational values.
 
Nurse Practitioner 

Nurse Practitioners are the most senior clinical nurses involved in diagnosis and treatment of patients. They are able to work autonomously and independently in an advanced and extended clinical role. They must complete a Master of Nurse Practitioner degree and gain recognition and enrolment with AHPRA to be able to practice as independent clinicians. This is a Grade 8 position.

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