As a nurse or midwife, if you were given the opportunity to choose when you would like to work, it’s safe to assume you’d jump at this opportunity. Agency nursing provides flexibility, freedom, professional development, and more importantly, a fun, stimulating work environment. But here’s the question - is it right for you? This article explores the benefits of agency nursing, looking more closely at the benefits an agency like Network Nursing Agency (NNA) can provide., This is so you can make the best choice for you and your family, as well as your career.

Flexibility and freedom 

One of the main reasons behind the increase in popularity for agency work, is the flexible working conditions. Nurses and midwives want the capability to choose when they work around their lifestyle, but historically this has only been a luxury in certain workplaces.

Nursing agencies like NNA allow nurses and midwives flexible roster arrangements so they can dictate the hours they want to work. If you’re worried about meeting the minimum hourly requirement for work per week, don’t be. When working for an agency there is no minimum (or maximum requirement). You can work as much or as little as you like. Simply contact our friendly team, which is available 24/7, to update your availability ensuring you are offered shifts when you want it.

Greater variety of shifts

Are you feeling a little restless in your current nursing or midwifery job? It’s challenging and often impossible to move to a different ward within your hospital just to try it out. However, undertaking shifts with a nursing agency makes it easy to discover different places.

Having variety every week gives you the chance to flourish in different environments whilst providing an incredible opportunity to meet new people and grow your professional network.

NNA offers a wide range of nursing and midwifery speciality shifts across Sydney and Greater NSW to the most well recognised and respected healthcare providers in Australia, like Ramsay and Healthscope. Though shifts are offered far and wide, there is no pressure to travel if distance is a problem for you.

No politics  
 

Working a rotating shift work roster as a permanent member of staff can be stressful. Staff shortages, portfolios, mentoring students and time pressures become heavy burdens to carry day-in and day-out. Agency nurses don’t need to worry about these challenges. They are excused from staff meetings, internal politics and managing people, allowing you to focus solely on patient care. You can leave each shift feeling stress free, as there are no emails to follow up on or an expectation that a particular task will be done before the next shift.

Professional development

Becoming an agency nurse with NNA means, you can work in a number of departments in both private and public facilities. This variety and exposure means you are able to boost your skills across many areas and become comfortable in different settings, providing you with more work opportunities. Before long, facilities will be calling NNA asking for you by name to fill their next shift!

Education and training

Maintaining your continued professional development (CPD) hours and undertaking relevant professional development to sharpen your nursing and midwifery skills is something taken seriously by nursing agencies.

Here at NNA, we are keen to see our nurses grow and develop in their area of interest or even transition into new areas of nursing such as theatre or mental health nursing. We have partnerships with industry leading nursing education providers  ETC4Health and the Australian Healthcare Academy (AHA) who offer specialised training both online and face to face in areas such as critical care, perioperative nursing, ECG interpretation and mental health to assist career progression and growth.

With a greater scope and level of expertise in a particular area, more job opportunities will open, improving your chance of securing work. If you have been considering agency work, register with us today! But, if you're not ready just yet, download our nursing guide for some handy tips on how you can get started with a nursing agency, along with deciding if it’s right for you. You can also check out our job board and apply for a role directly, here.