What are the key Aged Care Nursing roles and responsibilities – including their daily duties? Let’s talk through them.

• Assessing and monitoring residents’ health: Engaging with patients daily, checking in with them, and making sure their needs are being met.
• Administering medications and treatments: Ensuring that all medicines and other treatments are given promptly.
• Managing care plans tailored to individual needs: Keeping up to date with changes in treatment or medication schedules. Making sure that appointments are kept and discussion of care plans with patients.
• Coordinating with other healthcare professionals, including GPs and specialists: Ensuring that lines of communication are kept open and that no aspect of a patient’s care plan is neglected.
• Training and supervising other care staff, such as personal care assistants: Once you’ve reached an appropriate level of work experience and qualification, you may want to offer training and supervision to other care staff, such as enrolled nurses or PCAs working in care settings.
• Providing emotional support to residents and their families: Forming working relationships with those closest to the patients you’re caring for. Listening to their needs and offering practical help when it’s needed.

Within Aged Care there are different caring roles such as PCAs and Enrolled Nurses. There are distinct differences between these jobs:

An Enrolled Nurse will have their diploma qualification. They’ll be qualified second-level nurses. They will typically work as part of a team, led by a Registered Nurse. Their job will involve administering and monitoring medication. However, they won’t have the same authority as a Registered Nurse and they won’t be able to take charge of a care facility or Aged Care ward in a hospital.

A PCA nurse will provide basic patient care only. This will be done under the supervision of the Registered Nurse in Aged Care. PCAs duties will revolve around personal care such as washing, dressing, and grooming. At times they may also have to undertake other tasks such as helping with cleaning and cooking in residential homes.

Now we’ve taken a look at the different roles and their responsibilities, let’s answer: what are the skills required to take on the job of a Registered Nurse in Aged Care?

What are the required Registered Nurse qualifications in Australia? Let’s break it down.

Educational requirements:

• Bachelor of Nursing (or equivalent qualification)
• AHPRA registration (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency)

Key skills:

• Critical thinking: Be able to think laterally and understand that every patient has unique needs and care.
• Empathy: Everyone’s lived experience is different. An RN should be able to show care and understanding to everyone, no matter what their background is.
• Leadership: Demonstrating strong leadership qualities is essential. Especially during busy or pressured times at work. Leading with courage and dignity helps reassure the people you’re working with.
• Communication: Being able to communicate with everyone, and adapting your style and tone is key. From patients through to professionals, everyone in the healthcare chain relies on clear communication to make pathways work effectively.
• Ability to work under pressure: Healthcare settings have their own unique pressures and challenges. No two days are the same, so being able to work under stress is a must.

Additional training or certifications
There are a few other additional certified training courses that can enhance your career as a Registered Nurse for Aged Care in Australia. These are:

• Dementia Care Certification
• Palliative Care Training
• First Aid Training

Before you begin any Aged Care Nursing role, whether in the community or within a care home there are screenings such as a police check.

This is a mandatory Government requirement used to ensure that people working in care roles are suitable for the job and able to protect the elderly and disabled from abuse and misconduct.

The RN Aged Care Salary varies based on experience and your location within Australia.

• Entry-level Registered Nurses in Aged Care might earn $70,000–$80,000 per year.
• Experienced Registered Nurses in Aged Care may command a salary of $90,000+ per year.

There are a variety of factors affecting wages, including:

• Location: Whether you work in an urban vs rural area of Australia
• Employment type: Would you like to work full-time, part-time, or casually?
• Shifts: What time of day or night works best for you – would you prefer night, weekend, and/or public holiday work?

Once you’re in a RN Aged Care role there are lots of benefits. You’ll have job stability and personal allowances. There are also countless opportunities for career growth, and we’ll look at these next.

Once you’ve gained your Registered Nurse Qualifications and have gained some job experience, you might wonder about the different career pathways open to you, or opportunities for growth in the same role.

Potential career progression for RNs in aged care:

• Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)
• Nurse Unit Manager (NUM)
• Director of Nursing (DON)
• Aged Care Trainer or Educator
• Consultant roles in aged care services

There are also educational pathways to take, which can help you improve and upskill whilst you work. The courses you can take include:

Postgraduate studies in:

• Aged Care Management
• Palliative Care
• Leadership and Management in Nursing

How healthcare is delivered has altered a lot over the last few years. Demand for remote care for seniors is high and there are always opportunities to work in this specific sector.

Australia offers a variety of incentives for healthcare workers in regional and rural areas, including:

• Rural Health Workforce Incentive Scheme (RHWIS): A scheme that offers packages of incentives worth up to $20,000. These are for health workers who would like to relocate to a remote or rural area for their work. This particular package is for New South Wales.
• Remote Area Nursing Incentive Package (RANIP): This will give the RN in Aged Care a cash sum. It will cover the average cost of return flights from the RANIP site to the nearest East Coast provincial city.
• Workforce Incentive Program – Practice Stream (WIP-PS): This is a scheme that includes increased payments, indexation changes, and data and accountability changes.
• HCA R&R Nursing: This will offer nurses incentives to travel for work. It also allows working and travelling to areas of Australia that aren’t tourism hot spots.

Official figures from the Australian Government show that as of September 2024, there are currently just over 50,000 nurses working in Aged Care.

The Government forecast that the actual figure needs to be just under 56,000, which means there’s a current shortfall of some 5,000+ nurses for this sector.

As mentioned above there are various Government-funded aged care training programs and incentives to recruit and retain RNs in Aged Care throughout Australia.

If you’re already working as an Acute Care Nurse, but would perhaps like to change pathways and upskill, then becoming an RN in Aged Care can offer you a better work-life balance, with more manageable shifts and an increased salary.

Also, consider the changing face of healthcare delivery. As healthcare moves into increasingly advanced frontiers, incorporating more technology – what does this mean for Aged Care RNs and the role they provide?

Elderly patients will have the opportunity to use facilities such as telehealth to assist with their care. There will also be the increasing availability of electronic care plans.

These make the connection between in-person appointments and medical pathways, including ordering prescriptions, or treatments much easier. Everyone involved in a patient’s care will have access to all the information they need, quickly and simply.

If you’ve read all of this and feel inspired and motivated to begin your journey to becoming an Aged Care RN in Australia then here is our step-by-step guide to entering this rewarding sector.

• Obtain your nursing qualifications and AHPRA registration.
• Complete your relevant placements or internships in Aged Care.
• Apply for Aged Care RN roles via job boards or Aged Care Providers.

Once you’re qualified and working there are a great many benefits to networking with professional nursing bodies or Aged Care Associations in Australia.

They allow you to talk to other qualified nurses in your sector and find out about all the latest developments and healthcare innovations.

There are some superb resources out there to help you find the right RN Aged Care role for you. Check out SEEK as a job seeker.

If you’re simply looking for advice and guidance on finding the right Aged Care Services or want knowledge on the right care providers, then take a look at My Aged Care.

Aged Care Nursing in Australia is a rewarding arena to get into. It provides meaningful day-to-day work. You’ll be able to make a real difference in the lives of older people.

Job stability is important to most people and working as an RN will provide this. There will always be people to care for. Service and dedication to duty are vitally important.

There are always going to be opportunities for career growth, and the ability to branch out into specific areas of care once you’ve qualified and gained job experience.

Salaries are competitive and with experience comes the opportunity to earn more, commensurate with your skill levels.

When you work in Aged Care Nursing in Australia you’re having a unique opportunity to develop long-term relationships with older people, both in the wider community and in residential care settings. These relationships are important for the health and well-being of a sector in society that can be susceptible to isolation and loneliness as they age.

If all this has sparked an interest, then why not explore the various training opportunities or career options there are in Aged Care Nursing?

Take some time to explore aged care nursing courses or job listings. Your next job in Aged Care Nursing is just around the corner. Take a look today.