NSW Minister for Health, Ryan Park greets new graduates to the NSW Health workforce.

The beginning of a new year marks the start of a career in health for more than 200 graduate nurses and midwives joining Sydney Local Health District.

NSW Minister for Health, Ryan Park, joined Ivanka Komusanac, District Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery  to welcome some of the District’s new recruits of the GradStart program.

“You are joining a dedicated and highly skilled workforce, committed to providing the best possible care to the community,” Minister Park said.

“Thank you for choosing to start this chapter with NSW Health.”

The GradStart orientation program is an introduction to NSW Health and the District with a range of informative and practical sessions to prepare them for the workforce, such as using the electronic medical records system, violence prevention and management and Aboriginal cultural awareness training.

Minister Park and Anne Robertson, acting Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer for NSW Health, were provided with opportunities to chat with the new recruits and observe a CPR simulation session.

Following the weeklong orientation, the graduates will begin their placement in hospitals and facilities across the District.

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) nursing graduate Ricko Hendra will be heading to RPA Hospital and is looking forward to starting his new career.

“I want to experience and learn things I haven’t been exposed to. I believe the District is able to support me with my career progression and future,” he said.

“I’m also looking forward to working with the team, being collaborative open and empowering people that I’m around.”

Fellow UTS alum Eunice Annan, one of several new registered nurses heading to Concord Hospital, is grateful for the time to meet new people and get to know her colleagues.

“Meeting them before we go, I think it’s nice. Instead of just going to the hospital and seeing new faces, we meet them here before we get there so that it’s less stressful,” she said.

GradStart is the annual state-wide intake of graduate nurses and midwives across NSW Health. The competitive entry program accepts applicants into the District specialty programs, including aged care and rehabilitation at Concord and Balmain hospitals, paediatrics and neonatal intensive care at RPA, and a specialist program focusing on Child and Family Health Nursing and Youth Health Nursing with the District’s Community Health services.

Sydney Education facilitate the GradStart orientation program and will provide onogoing education and training to the graduates, including support on the wards, throughout the year.