Paediatric and PICU Nurses jobs in Busselton

The Child and Adolescent Health Service runs Perth Children's Hospital, the state's only tertiary paediatric hospital and PICU, with regional paediatric care through the WA Country Health Service, under a WA state industrial agreement. A Working with Children Check (WA) is mandatory. Medicines follow the Medicines and Poisons Act 2014 (WA), and long-distance retrieval from regional and remote areas is routine.

City of Busselton, WA Country Health Service (Busselton Health Campus), Busselton Margaret River Airport and South Regional TAFE (Busselton campus) are among the largest employers in Busselton. Most paediatric and picu nurses here, though, are hired by small and mid-sized businesses rather than by the names everyone recognises — which is why so many local vacancies never reach a big job board.

The qualification is national, not local: Bachelor of Nursing (three years, AQF Level 7) and general registration as a registered nurse with the NMBA via Ahpra What changes between states is the licensing or clearance — see the Western Australia requirements above.

Modern awards are national instruments, so the same award applies in Busselton as anywhere else in Australia: Nurses Award 2020 (MA000034). Award coverage depends on the work performed rather than the job title, and pay rates change each 1 July — check the current rate for your classification with the Fair Work Ombudsman rather than relying on any figure quoted elsewhere.

No, general NMBA registration is the legal requirement. In practice, tertiary children's hospitals prefer or expect a Graduate Certificate in Paediatric Nursing for specialty roles, and PICU expects a paediatric intensive care qualification.

Yes. Children's hospitals and larger paediatric services run dedicated graduate programs. PICU normally requires prior paediatric or adult critical care experience before entry to a supported specialty program.

Yes, everywhere, and it is issued by each state or territory separately — a Blue Card in Queensland, WWCC in NSW, Victoria, WA and SA, an Ochre Card in the NT, RWVP registration in Tasmania and WWVP registration in the ACT. It does not transfer when you move interstate, even though your nursing registration does.

Tertiary paediatric intensive care is concentrated in the major children's hospitals — including Queensland Children's Hospital, the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, the Royal Children's and Monash Children's in Melbourne, Perth Children's Hospital and Adelaide's Women's and Children's Hospital. Tasmania, the ACT and the NT stabilise and retrieve critically ill children interstate.

Doses are weight-based and often require dilution, so calculation errors carry higher consequences. Independent double-checking, paediatric-specific formularies and careful documentation are standard practice.

Nurses commonly cite distressed and frightened children, difficult procedures, supporting anxious parents, child protection cases and paediatric death. Good services provide debriefing, clinical supervision and employee support.

Into PICU, paediatric emergency, neonatal care, paediatric oncology or cardiac subspecialties, community and hospital-in-the-home paediatric teams, school and child health nursing, education and unit management, or nurse practitioner endorsement.

Licensing is the check most employers get wrong, because it is set by Western Australia rather than nationally. The Child and Adolescent Health Service runs Perth Children's Hospital, the state's only tertiary paediatric hospital and PICU, with regional paediatric care through the WA Country Health Service, under a WA state industrial agreement. A Working with Children Check (WA) is mandatory. Medicines follow the Medicines and Poisons Act 2014 (WA), and long-distance retrieval from regional and remote areas is routine. Verify the licence number against the regulator's public register rather than accepting a photo of a card, and confirm the licence class actually covers the work you are hiring for — a restricted licence looks identical to an unrestricted one on paper.

Modern awards are national, so Busselton is no different from anywhere else in Australia: Nurses Award 2020 (MA000034). Coverage follows the work actually performed, not the job title on the contract, and classification within the award determines the minimum rate. Rates change each 1 July — check the current figure with the Fair Work Ombudsman before you make an offer, and keep a record of how you classified the role.

You are competing for the same people as City of Busselton, WA Country Health Service (Busselton Health Campus), Busselton Margaret River Airport, who can usually offer more structured conditions than a small business can. What small employers win on is the things large ones can't move quickly on — starting date, variety of work, and a straight answer about pay. Advertising where candidates are already looking for that specific trade in Busselton, rather than on a national board where the listing is one of thousands, is the cheaper half of the problem.

This is a qualified profession rather than an apprenticeship trade. The entry pathway is set nationally — Bachelor of Nursing (three years, AQF Level 7) and general registration as a registered nurse with the NMBA via Ahpra — so the lever is the graduate and early-career pipeline, not on-the-job training. Smaller employers who compete well here do it by offering supervision and a named mentor, study leave, and a clear scope of practice in writing, because those are the things a graduate is actually weighing. If the constraint is time rather than intent, Valont People can design the role and the advert, place it, and shortlist against the must-haves you set.