Choosing a place to work with GradStart

Research your options

You need to choose a minimum of six and a maximum of eight employment preferences in your application.

More than 150 facilities are on offer in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote settings. Working in rural and remote communities can provide a broad range of clinical experiences not always available in larger metropolitan areas.

Visit the career pages of employers to see what is on offer.

Find out more about working in rural and regional NSW by visiting Imagine Rural.

“What surprised me the most about working in a small rural hospital was the opportunities I saw and the ability to learn and grow and take responsibility for not only myself but for my patients. This was a lot more than I expected and what I experienced when working in a metro hospital. I loved both experiences but decided that rural nursing was my calling.” A new graduate nurse.

Pay special attention to where, in NSW, individual facilities are located and whether you would be prepared to live and work there. Consider the types of positions offered, clinical specialties, full-time or part-time employment opportunities and the commencement dates. This last point is important to consider if you are completing your degree in early 2025.

Exchange programs

Some hospitals offer exchanges that provide six months clinical practice in an aged care, community or mental health setting and six months clinical practice within a general nursing setting.

The Metro-Rural Exchange Program allows you to gain valuable nursing or midwifery experience in two very different clinical environments by working in both a rural facility and a metropolitan facility throughout the new graduate year. This is a great opportunity to see two different perspectives on healthcare environments.

Paticipating employers

• Metro Rural Exchange
  • Far West LHD with Central Coast LHD
  • Far West LHD with South Eastern Sydney LHD
  • Far West LHD with Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network
  • Southern NSW LHD with North Sydney LHD
  • Southern NSW LHD with South Eastern Sydney LHD
• Rural Rural Exchange
  • Far West LHD with Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network
  • Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network with Western NSW LHD
  • Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network with Mid North Coast LHD

Only choose preferences you are prepared to accept

If you decline your position offer, no further offers will be made.

Try to enter all eight preferences. You may enter the same preference more than once, however, this does not increase your chances of gaining a position with this employer.

If you have already applied to GradStart and withdrawn in the previous year, employment preferences chosen last time may have pre-populated into this years application. You must delete these preferences and choose again from the current list.

Changing your employment preferences

You can change your preferences any time up until applications close by logging back into NSW Health Careers.