We offer an extensive range of health care services across Far North Queensland with plenty of opportunities to develop your nursing and midwifery career.

We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service is a platinum affiliate member with the Australian College of Nursing.

Registered nursing

We offer a 12 month temporary placement for graduate nurses. You can do a 12 month placement at a rural hospital or health service, or a 6 month rotation at Cairns Hospital.

The temporary placement is for 64 hours per fortnight.

Hospital placements for registered nurses

Rural hospitals

We offer 12 month temporary placements for graduate registered nurses at the following rural hospitals:

• Atherton Hospital
• Babinda Multi-Purpose Health Service
• Gordonvale Hospital
• Herberton Hospital
• Innisfail Hospital
• Mareeba Hospital
• Mossman Multipurpose Health Service
• Tully Hospital.

Cairns Hospital

We offer graduate registered nurse placements at Cairns Hospital. These are 12 month temporary positions with rotation at 6 months and include the following areas:

• Cancer Care Ward
• Cardiology Ward
• Day Surgery Unit
• General Medical Ward
• Medical Assessment Unit
• Medical Imaging
• Older Persons Evaluation and Rehabilitation Assessment Ward
• Orthopaedic Ward
• Rehabilitation and Acute Stroke Unit
• Respiratory Renal and Gastroenterology Ward
• Surgical Outpatients Department
• Surgical South Ward
• Surgical North Ward
• Transit Lounge.

How to apply

Recruitment opens in July and ends in August with interviews held in September. Graduates are appointed through 2 intakes in February and May. Orientation will coincide with your start date.

Apply through the Graduate Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife Portal.

Eligibility information is on the portal website.

Further study

We’ve partnered with Central Queensland University (CQU) to give graduate nurses an opportunity to enrol in a Master of Clinical Nursing.

Graduate program overview

Education

As part of our graduate program we offer the following educational resources and support:

• orientation day
• three study days including Transition to Practice workshops about quality clinical care
• access to Transition to Practice nurse education programs in some specialty areas
• professional development opportunities
• in-service education sessions
• case study presentation
• reflective journaling
• evaluation
• career development pathways.

Clinical

For clinical placements we offer:

• ward induction
• supernumerary days
• supported practice
• preceptors
• clinical facilitators
• nurse educators.

Collegial support

• Debrief forums.

Enrolled nursing

We offer 12 month temporary contracts for graduate Enrolled Nurses (EN) within the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service. Our temporary placements offer between a 48 hour to 64 hour working fortnight.

Our placements include either:

• two 6-month rotations at Cairns Hospital including our Mental Health Unit
• a single 12-month placement at a Rural Hospital, Multi-Purpose Health service or Cairns Hospital (Specialised Units).

Hospital placements for enrolled nurses

Rural hospitals

We offer 12-month temporary positions for graduate enrolled nurse placements at the following rural hospitals:

• Atherton Hospital
• Babinda Multi-Purpose Health Service
• Gordonvale Hospital
• Herberton Hospital
• Innisfail Hospital
• Mareeba Hospital
• Mossman Multi-Purpose Health Service
• Tully Hospital.

Cairns Hospital

We offer graduate enrolled nurse placements at Cairns Hospital. These are 12-month temporary positions with rotation at 6 months and include the following areas:

• Orthopaedic Short Stay Unit
• Haematology and Oncology Unit
• Day Surgery Unit
• General Medical Ward
• Medical Assessment Unit
• Older Persons Evaluation and Rehabilitation Assessment Ward
• Orthopaedic Ward
• Rehabilitation and Acute Stroke Unit
• Respiratory Renal and Gastroenterology Ward
• Surgical South Ward
• Surgical North Ward
• Paediatric Ward
• Renal Dialysis Unit.

How to apply

Recruitment opens at the end of May and the contract starts in September.

Positions will be advertised on the SmartJobs website.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply you must:

• Have completed your Diploma of Nursing in Australia less than 18 months before applying or will complete your Diploma of Nursing in Australia before the graduate program starts.
• Be eligible to apply for an Enrolled Nurse registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) before the graduate program starts.
• Be an Australian or New Zealand citizen (living in Australia) or permanent resident.
• Have not worked as an enrolled nurse full time for more than 8 months or currently employed within an acute hospital service as an Enrolled Nurse, before applying for the graduate program.

Midwifery

We offer a 12 month temporary placement for registered graduate midwives at Cairns Hospital. The temporary placement is for 64 hours per fortnight. The placement is done on a rotation basis through Maternity Services in the following areas:

• Birth Suite
• Maternity Ward
• Special Care Nursery (SCN)
• Antenatal Clinic
• Extended Midwifery Service (EMS).

Recruitment opens in July and ends in August with interviews held in September. Graduates are appointed through 3 intakes in February, March and September. Orientation will coincide with your start date.

Apply through the Graduate Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife Portal.

Eligibility information is on the portal website.