Jun 12, 2011, 07:07 pm
Hi guys,
I'm currently on a grad year in the private sector and know others on grad years in the public sector. Our experience is that you are very much encouraged to take your leave throughout your grad year. You're gonna need it! Our experience is that as long as you give enough notice, they're not too fussed about when you take it - a couple of weeks here, a couple of weeks there. The one thing you should be aware of is if you want to take leave during school holiday times. Let's face it, a lot of nurses have kids and want that time off, so they put in for it pretty early. If you want to take leave during school holiday times, you'd be well advised to apply for it at the earliest possible chance. Generally, with regard to leave, you get treated the same as all the other nurses. The other thing that might affect you is if there are graduate study days scheduled when you want leave. You'll be advised of these pretty much straight up when you start. My experience is that if you miss one of these due to leave, they're not too fussed, as long as you let them know so they can forward any handouts or necessary info that you've missed. Whatever you do, don't feel intimidated to ask for your rights. You are a part of the team, are working hard and shouldn't set yourself up as the person who gets asked to do the $h!tty jobs that no-one else wants to do, gets the worst shifts or has to take leave at times when no-one else wants it. Heidi, I don't know anyone who has had the experience you have described about set leave times so I'm curious as to where that is. Still, it shows that you need to be proactive and ask these questions up front. Be aware though, that some of the information I was given at my grad interview has proven not to be true (or things have changed!!!). Nursing is an area that seems to have a frequent turnover of staff including managers and educators. The new educator or manager may have very different ideas about how things are going to happen than their predecessor and there's not a lot you can do about that. In a nutshell, there are no hard and fast rules. Every hospital will have different rules. Even hospitals that are run by the same organisation will have different rules, despite what they might tell you. Good luck to you both for next year and beyond.
