EEN vs RN - please, need explanation.

Hello Mark,

I am writing from the Northern Territory. ENs are still called ENs here

1. In the Territory there is no differentiation between what an EEN and an EN earns a fortnight. ENs earn between 40 720 - 46 031. The increment increases every year for five years until you get to the last figure mentioned. BTW a first year RN gets exactly the same as a 5th year EN. These are BASIC salaries. On top of this you get penalties for shift work; cant remember what it is for lates and nights, think it is about 15% per hour, but Saturdays is 50% and Sundays/Public Holidays is 100%. You are entitled to 6 weeks annual leave; 7 weeks if you work 7 Sundays a year.

If you have extra certification you do not get any recognition pay wise unfortunately. But there is recognition for EP, 'exemplary practitioner'. Hard to describe. But it is usually used for someone who is dedicated to their work, and has good knowledge of the area they are working in, ie they are a great resource

2. Yes, they do. They can do the whole nursing process, from admission to discharge.Yes, ENs do do things under the supervision of an RN, but that RN can be the NUM/CNM, so in effect you have your own patients.

BUT, ENs whether endorsed or not, are only allowed to give limited types of drugs, under the supervision of an RN. Sad, sad, sad. I'm talking Darwin, not sure if the other NT hospitals have the same policy, as I am sure the Nurses Act does recognise EENs

3. ENs used to be able to cannulate here. I don't think they are any more. Sad, isn't it?

4. All ENs do dressings. Simple dressings, advanced dressings, the same as RNs

5. Yes, ENs can work in all specialty areas depending on the hospital policy. Certainly we have ENs in psych and ED

Hope this is helpful,

Jay

1. earnings per fortnight.

an EEN will be roughly earning around the $20 per hour mark, if you were in casual pool, it would be slightly higher. The main thing is to get your share of the higher penalty shifts, eg. afternoons, weekend work etc. thats when your salary will really go up.

2. do eens get treated like Rn's

that depends mainly on your work ethic and enthusiasm to learn. if you are a very good een and know your procedures extremely well in your ward, dont be surprised if new RNs would look at you for advise and help. I see this all the time in the various wards. but on the other hand if you dont put effort in your work and dont know much, of course you will be treated as staff member with limited capabilities. At times other staff may treat you badly and use their RN status , these people may be regarded as bullies or just lazy and just want to offload you all of their dirty work, feel free to get your nurse unit managers or human resources assistance in this area. As for you, dont be egoistic , remember all nursing work is valuable, from a proper clean to a good vitals observation, if you perfect these skills , you will become invaluabe at the end, and a superior RN if you ever decide to go up higher.

if you are not happy how they are treating you, use the grapevine to find a better ward, lots of jobs out there.

PS pow (prince of wales hospital sydney) treats its eens """ fantastically"""

3. do eens canulate

most hospitals allow eens to canulate after completing an accredited course, usually within the same hospital. if you want to canulate and your hospital doesnt allow eens to do so, then whats there stopping you in the future to going to a hospital to allow you to do it. PS technical assistants who have just finished high school and did a private blood collection course can legally do blood collection, (the need to be an RN to do canulation is outdated), Ps if you do decide to go for canulation, ensure that you work in an area that do lots of canulas, eg medical imaging, surgical wards etc, otherwise you wont get enough practice. personally i advise people to work for a couple of years prior to canulating, there is so much to learn before getting to that stage.

4. what kind of meds

you will be doing oral tablets, injections, iv therapy (once accredited) virtually all (unlikely to be doing insulins as this is a bit of a mine field, they work real fast, best to wait a while and learn about diabetic people etc, some wards may allow you to assist in this area of insulins, but seriously learn your stuff first, dont get involved until much later when you are very cluey in this area, PS most states dont allow eens to do insulins this question should be directed to your een coordinator. I have seen lots of RNs really stuffing up big time. Remember with meds what ever you do, check thoroughly ,

there will be enough meds to keep you occuppied, also be smart, and learn alot about the meds you give, remember a cluey een is invaluable, dont be just an administrator of meds,

4.do eens do dressings

sure do, lots and lots. so important. do your dressings well and mate, you will be welcomed in any health clinic. study up on wound management. you can make a big difference. remember very few people are very competent in wound dressings, no matter if they are eens or rn's. i know of an een who can write volumes regarding to wound management, its up to you.

6. can eens work on psych, ed etc

yes eens work in most areas, in fact there is a new tafe course, gearing eens to work in intensive care units. however some hospitals dont allow eens to work in ed (prince of wales doesnt), but you can work in the areas close to it, but there is also alot of hospitals that do. I work in remote hospitals, in queensland in some areas eens can not work, in Northern territory eens cant work in remote. hopefully this stupidity will soon finish. but you still have plenty of areas that you can go and do ED or remote, psych, etc.

7. can eens perform similar roles to rns.

in practice yes, from my experience there were only a few things i couldnt do, eg set up a blood transfusion. be accredited to do chemo drugs (most RNs are not anyways) etc. remove picc lines etc.. in fact there s not that many things that an RN can do more. Its a pity that the wage difference is so high, when you consider that an experienced een does the same work as an experienced RN in most wards (hopefully the beuracrats will end this wage discrimination shortly)

but remember to cover yourself and confirm everything you do with your partner RN, especially in the first few years when you are still learning. (ps regulation stipulates that you work under the guidance of an RN)

CONCLUSION

the een course is fantastic, you will love it. its a good way to get into nursing without the sudden pressures.

eens are invaluable, at the moment eens may be given a hard time, this is due to ignorance. from my experience a nurse starting off as an een is so much invaluable to the health system. but unfortunately there a few lazy een's out there not striving to improve, this is giving RN's the upper hand.

PS if you start off as an een, its unlikely that you will drop out of the system like a stressed out new grad RN.

Ok .. so 2 years later, I stumble on this thread:

I am an EEN .. I work both sectors, public and private. I earn $24.80ph in the private sector as a full time employee. I earn $29.80 in the public sector as a casual on call (or casual pool) employee.

When I do my 3 x 12 hour night duties in the private sector (Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night) I can bring home, in excess of $2000pf. If I do 3 day/afternoon shifts in the public sector, I bring home around $800.

I am currently at Uni, I am a 3rd year Student RN, and doing night duty is the only way I can fit uni in.

I am treated by *most* RN's as fairly equal in the private sector. In the public however, God forbid I touch a medication cupboard key ha ha. I am given my own patient load and held responsible in the private sector. In the public sector I am 'issued' to an RN and work under her jurisdiction. That being said, I am mostly in mental health and DO get my own patient load and get the med cupboard key.

Its a varied job ... so many choices ... I love it.

Do it.

This debate will never end I guess. AHPRA has frameworks and guidelines on what you can and can't do as an EEN as oppossed to a RN. Complex pt's and pt's with a change in their status require a RN's assessment and expertise. In addition a pt being admitted needs to be assessed by the RN and a care plan devised. This function cannot be done by an EEN according to AHPRA. As ultimately the RN is in charge and accountable for the pt. That is why they go to University for 3 years and have a 1 year post graduate year before they are allowed to act on their own and make decisions regarding the changing status of the pt without first discussing it with their senior. Realising your own limitations and reflecting on your practice makes one a safe nurse. It is not about titles and hierarchy but more about working together as a team and realising who has the most knowledge and experience and utilising that knowledge to have a successful outcome for the patient.