The value of undergraduate Assistant in Nursing (AIN) employment in the aged care setting : developing transferable skills and increasing workforce readiness

Nursing students commonly find employment as Assistants in Nursing (AINs), also known as personal care assistants (PCAs), in the aged care sector. This experience provides nursing students with the opportunity to develop clinical skills while earning an income during their undergraduate nursing program. Student perceptions of aged care commonly revolve around the notion that aged care nursing requires a limited skill set, contributing to the devaluation of aged care among nursing students. The devaluation of aged care nursing is grounded in ageist attitudes, and the focus of university curricula on acute care nursing perpetuates the notion that aged care has limited educational value to the professional development of new nurses. Given the concerns surrounding the clinical preparedness of nursing students entering the workforce and the undervaluing of clinical experience in the aged care sector, it was necessary to explore whether work experience in aged care contributes to the clinical preparation of new graduate nurses. This thesis explores whether new graduate nurses perceive their undergraduate AIN employment in aged care contributed to their clinical preparation for new graduate practice. An explanatory sequential mixed method design was used to explore the benefits of undergraduate AIN employment in preparing graduating nurses for their role as Registered Nurses (RNs) in the workforce. 110 completed surveys were collected. Analysis of the open response survey question revealed four themes related to the perceived benefits of undergraduate AIN employment in aged care. These themes were familiarity and exposure, time management and prioritisation, communication, and becoming a professional nurse. The narrative created by the interview findings suggests that undergraduate AIN employment in aged care does not necessarily prepare novice nurses for their new graduate year in terms of clinical skills. Rather, it prepares and equips novice nurses for transition into the workforce. Employment as an undergraduate AIN in the aged care sector has numerous benefits in preparing novice nurses for their transition into the workforce as RNs. Working as an undergraduate AIN in aged care creates a transformative learning experience where the experiences generated from interactions with older adults create points of transition. The transformation from novice nurse to advanced beginner then occurred prior to the commencement of the new graduate year creating new graduate RNs that are equipped with fundamental nursing characteristics required to transition into the nursing profession