Fifteen positions are available across both Calvary St Luke’s and Calvary St Vincent’s hospitals and Calvary Launceston Director of Clinical Services Debbie Rogers expects competition for places will again be strong.

“We received more than 140 applications for the 14 positions we offered in our last intake,” Ms Rogers said, adding that all of this year’s intake of graduate nurses were from northern Tasmania.

“Calvary Launceston values local and in part we are developing a home-grown workforce for the future,” she said. “And so we place high importance on supporting our beginning practitioners and helping them transition from university to the workplace”.

Launceston local Kaila Whiddon is one of them.

Inspired to become a nurse by her grandmother, who was a midwife, and her aunt, who was a nurse in the Australian army, Kaila completed her Bachelor of Nursing at University of Tasmania. She chose to do her graduate transition year last year at Calvary, spending six months on a ward and six months in recovery and anaesthetics.

“When I started my graduate year I had a mix of anxiety and excitement, but after the year I had at Calvary, I’ve stayed on so I can learn more,” Kaila said, who continues to work in the operating theatres.

“I chose Calvary because the graduate nurse program was so supportive. You get more study days which, when you are learning, are so important, and the resources around us at Calvary are great, including there being a lot more experienced nurses to work with.”

Ms Rogers said the transition program offered a variety of settings with ongoing education, feedback and assessments.

“Nursing is a career that really makes a difference – to the patients, their families and the community – and we are looking for exceptional graduates to join our compassionate, dedicated team.

“At the end of the transition year, we want our graduates to have the confidence of knowing that their clinical and professional skills are meeting industry standards, and Calvary’s values-based expectations of high quality care.”