Supporting undergraduate nurses and new graduates to transition to nursing is critical to recruiting and retaining early career nurses. An initiative of the ANMF (Vic Branch), the registered undergraduate student employment model (RUSON) was initially trialled by the Andrews Government in 2016 to reduce workload pressure for registered nurses, support transition to practice, develop a sustainable nursing workforce, and enhance the patient’s experience. The RUSON employment model is now imbedded across the Victorian public health care sector.
Evaluation of the RUSON employment model has yielded promising results. These include reducing workload pressure and increasing job satisfaction for registered nurses, improving patient care, and increasing the confidence of RUSONs in terms of providing general nursing care, teamwork, and communication[1].
A recent study of new graduates found that employment as a student RN in a RUSON role in a supportive ward or unit results in additional benefits associated with the student RNs immersion in the nursing team. This connection results in further clinical experience, connection to and understanding of the nursing profession and development of the graduate’s professional identity, giving the graduate a clinical advantage. We reported a summary of its findings in December 2023, and the final thesis can be accessed via the University of Melbourne.
While research is starting to demonstrate that the RUSON Employment Model supports transition to practice for participants, further research is required to better understand their experiences of the model and factors within the model that influence its successful implementation.
PhD student Sarah Park at the University of South Australia is undertaking research focusing on the RUSON’s transition to practice. Sarah is inviting students and new graduate registered nurses to participate in this research, which is supported by ANMF (Vic Branch).
To participate in the survey, which will take approximately 20 minutes to complete, please select from one of the survey links below.
- For current undergraduate nursing students please click here (student survey)
- For current graduate nurses please click here (graduate nurses)
