Nursing and midwifery careers

Nursing careers

When you choose to start or continue your nursing or midwifery career with us, you'll be joining more than 7,169 nurses and midwives providing exceptional care in a supportive work environment.

We offer our nurses and midwives a healthy and engaging environment where you are supported to put patients and clients first and to provide exceptional clinical care. We highly value our nurses and midwives and recognise the vital link they provide between our Mission and the people we serve.

We provide a wide variety of nursing and midwifery job opportunities, in hospitals, in the community and in home care. We also offer further career development options through nursing research participation and our training and development programs.

Explore our nursing opportunities

Nursing in intensive care

Our Intensive Care Unit nurses are responsible for the provision of a high standard of patient care in a safe and effective manner.

Nursing in intensive care at a St John of God Health Care hospital requires a high level of skill and knowledge so you can provide life-supporting care to some of our most vulnerable, and critically ill patients in a high-pressure environment.

Our intensive care nurses are committed and dedicated to providing exceptional care to their patients in their recovery or, in some situations, providing the best end-of-life care to the patient and support to their loved ones. 

Nursing in critical care intensive care units requires a high level of skill and knowledge, as well as ongoing development so that you can competently support and maintain patient organ function, such as cardiac, respiratory, renal and neurological. 

We offer a senior clinical roles such as clinical nurses and clinical nurse specialists, which practice at an advanced level and provide oversight and contribute to advanced clinical decision making. 

Our nurses provide care at the bedside, or provide leadership through supporting other hospital departments as a nursing subject matter expert.

At St John of God Health Care, we offer our intensive care nurses a varied and exciting career, in addition to financial support to complete formal post-graduate studies in critical care and opportunities for progression into clinical, educational or leadership/management roles.  

Nursing in the Emergency Department

Our Emergency Department nurses form part of a strong and adaptable emergency team, which provide a high standard of patient care in a safe and effective manner, for all areas of both the adult and paediatric community. 

Nursing in an emergency department at a St John of God Health Care hospital involves treating a diversity of concerns from strains and sprains to more complex and critical life-threatening emergency situations.

Our nurses work in a fast-paced, accelerated environment that requires adapting very quickly to urgent and emergency situations, and thriving on the unpredictability of the department.

Our ED nurses are supported by our medical teams to be able to make quick and skilled clinical decisions in urgent situations fostering a strong alliance between doctors and nurses.

The diverse nature of our emergency departments mean there are a number of areas and roles for nurses, including the general fast-paced department, resuscitation and triage.

Opportunities for leadership roles in both clinical and non-clinical settings are also available to support caregivers, patients and the broader hospital wards and units.

We offer nurses working in our emergency departments a varied and exciting career, with support and mentoring from a multi-disciplinary team and opportunities to progress their career pathway.

Our emergency department nurses, regardless of their experience level, also have the chance to attend emergency medicine courses and study days to enhance their skills and knowledge.

Perioperative nursing

Our perioperative nurses are responsible for the provision of a high standard of patient care in a safe and effective manner.

Perioperative nursing at a St John of God Health Care hospital encompasses different aspects of the entire patient surgical journey, which is both exciting and extremely rewarding. 

We provide opportunities for nurses to enhance and discover new skills including assisting the anaesthetist in all facets of anaesthesia and assisting in a range of different case mixes including complex surgeries.

Our nurses provide excellent clinical care at all stages of the perioperative journey, from pre-surgery, in theatre and post-surgery.

We offer a big range of opportunities within perioperative nursing, specialising in different aspects of care. 

Some of these roles include, anaesthetic nurse, scrub/scout nurse and recovery, post-anaesthetic nursing.

You also have the chance to specialise your skills, or work in clinical educator roles.

At St John of God Health Care, we offer perioperative nurses a varied and exciting career across a range of specialities.

Our learning and development opportunities provide well-designed training programs to develop the novice nurse into an advanced clinician in the perioperative environment.

You are always supported by a highly skilled team who are passionate about patient-centred care. 

Mental health nursing

Our mental health nurses provide a recovery-focused approach to care that supports the whole person.

Our nurses support a range of patients with varying mental health conditions, from anxiety and depression to post-traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol addiction and perinatal mental health.

Using a range of evidence-based care, services and interventions, you will be part of a team that is passionate about helping patients on their journey to recovery, by focusing not only on their psychological wellbeing, but also their physical and spiritual wellbeing.

At St John of God Health Care, we see the whole person and ensure all care delivered is holistic and tailored to an individual’s needs.

We offer a number of progressive pathways for our mental health nurses, from ward nursing and clinical nurse specialist roles to learning and development and leadership roles.

We have exciting opportunities for mental health nurses to join our teams in both our public and private hospitals and services throughout Australia.

At St John of God Health Care, we value our mental health nurses and recognise the important role they play in ensuring we provide all patients with the very best care.

Our supportive and safe environment, in combination with ongoing training and professional development, provides our mental health nurses with the opportunity to develop new skills and experience so they can progress their careers.

Midwifery

Our midwives are responsible for the provision of a high standard of patient care in a safe and effective manner in our obstetrics wards and in the community.

Being a midwife at a St John of God Health Care hospital is a very rewarding experience. 

Our midwives take time with their patients and their families supporting them through every step of their journey to being a mother and parent. Our midwives are dedicated to providing all aspects of pregnancy, birth and postnatal care in our antenatal clinics and services, on our maternity wards and in birth suites, in addition to care for our babies in our special care nurseries.

Our midwives also provide postnatal care to our patients in their homes.

Roles include:

  • Midwifery roles within the maternity ward
  • Lactation consultants
  • Special care nursery nurses
  • Birth suite midwives
  • Perioperative nursing for Caesarean Sections
  • Parent education specialists
  • Home visiting midwives and lactation consultants

At St John of God Health Care, we offer midwives a varied and exciting career in our maternity wards including regular professional development specific to midwifery. 

Our midwives and obstetricians are collaborative in their approach to caring for their patients. Our midwives acknowledge the challenges of being a new parent and are able to offer additional support to all family members by referral to St John of God Raphael Services – a free service supporting parents through the emotional challenges of early parenthood.

Student midwife employed positions 

The Student Midwife Employed Model at St John of God Health Care, enables registered nurses to complete post-graduate midwifery studies at one of our partner universities, while concurrently employed to work as an RN/student midwife in one our participating maternity services, under the support and guidance of our dedicated midwifery teams. 

RN/student midwives will be exposed to a range of clinical experiences in antenatal, postnatal, labour suite, neonatal units, healthcare at home in a public and/ or private setting.

On successful completion of the course, participants will directly transition into the St John of God Health Care Pathways to Practice Graduate Midwife Program

Enrolment (including payment of course fees) into a partner Graduate Diploma Midwifery course is a separate process, arranged directly with the university and is the responsibility of the participant (course places will automatically be made available for those successfully employed into the program at St John of God Health Care).

Student Midwife Employed Model (Paid)

Participating hospitals:

WA (two intakes annually)

  • Bunbury
  • Geraldton
  • Midland
  • Murdoch 
  • Subiaco

VIC (annual intake)

  • Bendigo

NSW (annual intake)

  • Hawkesbury

Graduate Diploma in Midwifery Partner Universities

  • The University of Notre Dame - WA 
  • Western Sydney University - NSW
  • Federation University - VIC
  • La Trobe University - VIC

Student Midwife Model (Supernumerary)

Participating hospitals: 

VIC:

  • Ballarat
  • Berwick
  • Geelong

Eligibility for student midwife positions

  • Holds current registration as a registered nurse with AHPRA (12 months experience as a registered nurse preferred).
  • Eligible to enrol in post-graduate studies at one of our partners universities.
  • Full work rights in Australia for the duration of the program.

Application and recruitment process

  • Employment opportunities in various roles outside of this program exist for undergraduate and post-graduate midwifery students within our maternity services, whilst completing studies.
  • Applications for our mid-year 2024 student midwife employed positions in Western Australia will be opening on 15 March 2024 via our Careers portal.

For further enquiries please email: [email protected]

Create a jobs profile on the careers portal to receive notifications of when applications are open for RN/Student Midwife positions in your preferred locations. 

Graduate nursing jobs

Visit graduate nursing jobs to find out more about our graduate nursing and midwifery opportunities.

Nursing re-entry

Visit nursing re-entry to find out more about how St John of God Health Care can support you to re-start your nursing career.