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hi luke,

i guess its really a question of how long you want it all to take and financially what you can afford too. im in Victoria so i can tell you how it works here. im assuming it wouldnt be much different in Qld.

basically these are your options-

1. you can do a 3 yr degree course at Uni and be an RN in 3yrs.

2. cert IV traineeship takes 2 yrs, and you'll be an EN once youve finished. then as an EN you can do an accelerated Bachelor of nursing course at some uni's which only takes 2 years. so it would take you 4 yrs in total to be an RN. this is only my opinion, but ive never liked the idea of a traineeship bcos your kind of locked in to working somewhere for the 2yrs, and if you dont like it there or have any other issues its a drama trying to deal with it. plus the money is usually pretty bad too. but thats only my opinion. others may feel differently.

3. you could shorten that by doing a full time Cert IV/EN course at TAFE, which often only takes 1 yr, then do the accellerated RN course at Uni. therefore you'd be an RN in 3yrs.

what you choose to do is really a personal choice. i started the RN degree 10yrs ago and did 1yr before leaving to do something else. so now that im considering going back into it, ive looked at all the options myself and will probably go for the second option. study cert IV full time for one year. then do the accelerated RN course for 2 yrs at some point, and be able to work as an EN while studying which gives decent flexibility. plus you can also then claim tax benefits on the cost of your RN course because you are 'upskilling' in your area of work. so books, fees, others bits and pieces related to your work/study can be claimed in your tax.

hope this helps! : )

Author	New to field, looking at cert4 and beyond
LAC3429 (offline) Joined: Jul 2009 Location: Gold Coast Posts: 1	Sun Jul 12, 2009 2:07 am Hi There, I've been in retail most of my career and i am looking for a change. I've thought about a career in nursing (and possibly further down the track, radiology). I have the possibility of doing a certificate 4 traineeship in aged care. I guess my question is were do you go from their? I’m still waiting to hear back from the prospective employer in regards to details and etc but i was wondering, what is the process on obtaining your bachelor in nursing or RN? Eg. Cert4 Traineeship (2yrs full time) >> Bachelor of Nursing (1yr full time study at university) >> Then RN? It would be great if someone could elaborate on this. I think this is the best way for me to start in the field of nursing as the full time traineeship will let me be able to support myself and will give me a hands on feel. Thanks, Luke

jules74 (offline) Joined: Jan 2008 Location: Posts: 135	Jul 24, 2009, 08:11 pm hi luke, i guess its really a question of how long you want it all to take and financially what you can afford too. im in Victoria so i can tell you how it works here. im assuming it wouldnt be much different in Qld. basically these are your options- 1. you can do a 3 yr degree course at Uni and be an RN in 3yrs. 2. cert IV traineeship takes 2 yrs, and you'll be an EN once youve finished. then as an EN you can do an accelerated Bachelor of nursing course at some uni's which only takes 2 years. so it would take you 4 yrs in total to be an RN. this is only my opinion, but ive never liked the idea of a traineeship bcos your kind of locked in to working somewhere for the 2yrs, and if you dont like it there or have any other issues its a drama trying to deal with it. plus the money is usually pretty bad too. but thats only my opinion. others may feel differently. 3. you could shorten that by doing a full time Cert IV/EN course at TAFE, which often only takes 1 yr, then do the accellerated RN course at Uni. therefore you'd be an RN in 3yrs. what you choose to do is really a personal choice. i started the RN degree 10yrs ago and did 1yr before leaving to do something else. so now that im considering going back into it, ive looked at all the options myself and will probably go for the second option. study cert IV full time for one year. then do the accelerated RN course for 2 yrs at some point, and be able to work as an EN while studying which gives decent flexibility. plus you can also then claim tax benefits on the cost of your RN course because you are 'upskilling' in your area of work. so books, fees, others bits and pieces related to your work/study can be claimed in your tax. hope this helps! : )

Nursing issues

New to field, looking at cert4 and beyond