ET Australia Magazine Issue #2 February 2018

BlueWave Living
Employment
Program Success
We interviewed Fiona Lecren, Nurse Educator
at BlueWave Living so she could give a little
more insight into the benefits of running
on-site Employment Programs.
It’s not easy retaining entry level staff
in aged care. With so many positions
available to those who are qualified
it has become an industry where
employers consistently attempt large
staff recruitment drives many times
throughout the year knowing staff will
move to other vacant jobs throughout
the industry.
III in Individual Support but BlueWave
having a pool of students they can
employ who already know their policies
and processes.
Fiona tell us a little bit about the
background of BlueWave Living.
Where are you located? How many
beds do you currently have on
site? How many staff are currently
employed? Are there any unique
activities BlueWave provide to
residents?
We opened our doors in 1989 in Woy
Woy where BlueWave Living has been
servicing the local community for
29 years providing comprehensive,
quality residential aged care with
a mix of High Care and Low Care
accommodation.
The community owned facility
features 139 beds, which includes
Hostel, Nursing Home and Dementia
Specific Units.
We employ over 100 staff and offer
a comprehensive activities program
that is offered to all residents. The
program is very extensive and there
are activities on every day. The team
at BlueWave Living is also assisted by
approximately 20 volunteers.
Your organisation has been
working with ET Australia now for
a couple of years, how did you get
involved with ET Australia?
For many years, ET Australia has been
the provider of choice for CHC30115
Certificate III in Individual Support
trained staff for BlueWave Living. Due
to the successful relationship, it was a
natural fit for BlueWave to be a part of
this innovative Employment Program.
Why did you choose to open your
doors to ET Australia students?
We have always found that students
from ET Australia have a very high
standard of training and Mary Seeto,
aged care trainer for ET Australia is an
absolute pleasure to work with and
engages staff to interact with students
in a professional manner when on-site.
Tell us what your experience has
been with ET Australia students?
For this program BlueWave Living and
ET Australia conducted all the student
interviews together. We found we had
similar values in regards to what we
are looking for in a student.
Therefore the students chosen were of
a high calibre.
Tell us a little about ET Australia’s
student quality?
We have always found that students
from ET Australia have a very high
standard of training.
ET Australia Trainer Mary Seeto with
ex ET Australia student Audrey
CHC33015 Certificate III in Individual Support
students learning on-site at BlueWave Living
BlueWave Living in Woy Woy are
the exception.
Partnering with ET Australia Training
College since 2016 has given BlueWave
the ability to hire and retain quality
staff through ET Australia’s on-site
Employment Program. Essentially in
consultation with BlueWave, ET Australia
organises the recruitment of students to
be trained on site at BlueWave facilities
with the outcome being students not
only gaining their CHC33015 Certificate
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