RUSON Sarah Gordon (left) with Denielle Beardmore, Director – Clinical Education and Practice Development, Ballarat Health Services
Are you a second- or third-year undergraduate student seeking more hospital experience?
Becoming a Registered Undergraduate of Nursing or Midwifery (RUSON/RUSOM) may be just what you are looking for.
It’s a great way to get your foot in the door and start putting some of your basic nursing/midwifery skills into practice.
What is a RUSON?
A RUSON is an undergraduate student of nursing who undertake a set of core nursing activities under the delegation and supervision of a registered nurse. You work above the legislated nurse to patient ratio.
In 2020, due to the increased workforce demand during COVID-19 pandemic, the model expanded to additional Victorian health services.
The activities which can be delegated to a RUSON are outlined in a Core Activity List include
- Hygiene
- Toileting
- Manual handling/mobility
- Communication
- Documentation
- Maintenance
- Nutrition support/feeding.
Activities which cannot be delegated to a RUSON are outlined in an Exclusion List.
Know your role
It is important to understand what activities you can undertake as a RUSON. These will be different to the activities you can undertake when on clinical placement as part of your Bachelor of Nursing studies.
For more information on the Template RUSON Core Activity List/Exclusion List, Position Descriptions go to anmfvic.asn.au/ruson.
This template ensures all health services implement the RUSON model consistently.
RUSOMs for midwifery students
The RUSOM role is quite similar however employed in a maternity setting and focused towards midwifery services. Therefore, the tasks undertaken differ from a RUSON.
The first RUSOM pilot in November 2020 at Western Health. Others are planned for piloting it in 2021.
EBA & pay rates
Your terms and conditions of employment are outlined in the Nurses & Midwives (Victorian Public Health Sector) (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2016-2020).
The definition of a RUSON is outlined in Clause 106.1. (Link to Victorian Public Health Sector EBA)
| RUSON/RUSOM | $22.95 | Year 1 under public sector EBA |
The hourly rate above is a base rate. RUSONs may be entitled to allowances such as:
- uniform ($1.71 per day)
- laundry ($0.46 per day)
- shift allowance (PM $28.80)
- weekend penalty rates (additional $11.36 per hour)
How to find positions
RUSON/RUSOM positions are advertised on each health service’s website or job search websites, such as Seek.
There’s no set date for intake, so interested students are advised to have an alert set up or contact hospitals directly.
Update your membership
To have full member benefits including continuing professional development, professional indemnity insurance and legal coverage, you must upgrade your student membership to a RUSON membership.
