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We recently interviewed Carestaff Registered Midwife Julie-Ann to get her insight on what it is like to work as an agency nurse here in Queensland. ​ How did you first get into Nursing and what are your specialties? Initially I wanted to be a primary school teacher but there were many people enrolling and everyone wanted to be a teacher 40 years ago, so I applied to do nursing and was accepted. My specialties mainly include maternity, community child health, school nursing, paediatrics, medical / surgical and aged care nursing as well. Do you enjoy the flexibility of picking and choosing shifts that suit your family/lifestyle? Yes, very much so. One of the benefits of Agency work as opposed to a fixed term position in a hospital is that you get to move around to different wards and hospitals. This exposes you to wider cultures, gain more confidence working with different staff, increase your knowledge base on a wider scale and you are not confined to a certain type of nursing. A typical day for me is family life at home during the day the night duty shifts when I choose to be available so there are little to no disruptions to my family commitments. Being a mother (for me) comes first before anything. Describe a rewarding experience you’ve had whilst working with Carestaff? Nursing as an industry has many rewards that you gain when looking after clients and their family members. I always feel blessed to be able to help them in their lives as well as listen to their life stories. Being respectful, supportive and a good listener is mandatory for me as a nurse. What advice would you give to other nurses looking for an agency role? 1.Make sure you research the actual agency, some are not supportive and do not provide shifts as promised 2.You are able to work in areas you are confident and expert in 3.Flexibility If you are looking to become an agency nurse with us here at Carestaff, click here to start your journey.