Early Graduate Nurse Program
Early Graduate Nurse Programs (EGPs) support and nurture early nursing graduates. They assist them to consolidate and further develop their knowledge, skills and competence in a safe and supportive environment and to practise as safe, confident and accountable professionals.
The 2009 Early Graduate Program (EGP) guidelines provide a framework of principles, to assist health services to develop and provide programs that support the beginner practitioners to make the transition to professional practice. Exemplars and companion resources will be developed and updated on the website over time to further assist Victorian public health services deliver best practice programs.
Compliance with the EGP guidelines 2009 is a requirement for Training and Development Grant for EGNP places for RN Division 1 and those with specific registration in midwifery. These guidelines may also have application to programs provided for RN Division 2 nurses and those nurses being inducted to new or unfamiliar practice areas.
Early Graduate Nurse Program Guidelines 2009
The following principles underpin Early Graduate Nurse Programs:
• Best practice EGPs are delivered in organisations that value learning, professional development, evidence based practice and research.
• Best practice EGPs thrive in an organisational culture that values nurses, their contribution to client care and service delivery and the role of the early graduate in the health team.
• Best practice EGPs are provided in a safe and supportive work environment that complies with principles of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.
• Best practice EGPs are planned learning and professional development experiences that address both early graduate and workplace needs.
• Best practice EGPs are based on the understanding that early graduates have been prepared through their tertiary qualifications for beginner level practice. As such, early graduates require access to more experienced nurses and midwives as preceptors for supervision, direction and instruction
• Best practice EGPs adopt a holistic approach that considers professional, social and whole of life issues.
• Best practice EGPs are integrally linked to the organisation’s quality, safety and risk management frameworks.
Background
In 1997, the first guidelines for Graduate Nurse Programs in Victoria were developed to assist health services in meeting the DHS eligibility criteria for funding under the Training and Development Grant. The guidelines have been reviewed and revised in 2003 and in 2008-09. Through a process of consultation with industry experts, research and review of the contemporary literature and best practice, the guidelines have been reshaped and refined to ensure their relevance and utility.
Contact
All enquires can be directed to Cathrine Klomp
Nurse Policy Branch
Tel: 03 909 67947