The Healthcare Australia team recently went on a fact-finding mission to discover what Australian Nurses wanted in their career and personal life. We surveyed over800 Nursesacross the country and were presented with five clear-cut observations.

Observation 1: Nurses want to keep learning.

Nurses recognise that keeping up-to-date with qualifications, training and skills, not only puts them ahead for new opportunities, it reflects their commitment to offer the best level of care to all patients. Across the pool of over 800 Nurses surveyed, 74% of Nurses considered additional training and education to be fundamental in their career.

Nurses also understand they have access to continual supply of learning resources through their peers and patients. This allows them to build on their skills and expand their depth of knowledge. Alice Vandommele, an HCA Critical Care Nurse from Townsville, Queensland, recently affirmed this in our article ‘6 Great Pieces of Nursing Advice‘ when she said, “Never think you know everything and take the time to listen to your patients.

Observation 2: Flexibility trumps security.

Workplace flexibility is a trending topic in 2016, not only in healthcare, but the entire Australian workforce. Many large organisations are offering flexible working hours and we are seeing a continued trend in people moving to part-time, casual and agency based work. Hence, it was no surprise to see that 38% of Nurses consider flexibility to be the most important thing in their career. Among the list of other important priorities in a Nurses’ career were security (25%) and career progression (15%). Pay and remuneration (11%) came in fourth.

A flexible work-life balance is far becoming the most important thing in many Nurses careers. Find out more reason whyNurses are choosing flexibility over consistency.

Observation 3: Nurses are risk takers in their career.

Over 60% of Nurses were inclined to take risks to meet their career needs. This may be in the form of moving to a new city and/or hospital, changing their lifestyles and working night shifts or venturing off the beaten track and working rural and remote placements in order to build new skills and experience (four more reasons Nurses take on rural and remote contracts).

Observation 4: Nurses are habitual night owls

Whether it be a natural predisposition or perhaps an adaptation to the job; over 56% of Nurses consider themselves to be night owls, whilst only 24% consider themselves early birds. It still doesn’t change the fact that working a night shift isn’t easy.

Observation 5: Family time is most important to Nurses!

Family is number one! 40% of Nurses consider family time to be the most important thing to them outside of work. Travel experience (20%), followed by financial security (19%) were the second and third most important things Nurses valued.

Looking for a new Nursing opportunity?

Healthcare Australia has Agency and Permanent Nursing roles available all across the country. To find out about our latest roles, registering your details.