Student nurses, midwives and paramedics will bolster the health workforce administering COVID-19 vaccinations to the Canberra community in coming weeks.
On Wednesday, ACT Health gave approval for later-year student health practitioners to apply to work in mass vaccination hubs.
Third-year nursing student Hannah McDowell had completed the mandatory vaccination training and said she was ready to get to work to help protect the community.
"You get itchy feet. You really want to be out there doing the job that you've trained for," she said.
The University of Canberra student has just eight weeks left of her nursing degree. Work placements have been paused for first- and second-year students due to the outbreak, but third-years are still able to do their final placements as they finish their studies remotely.
University of Canberra executive dean of health Michelle Lincoln said the university had strongly encouraged students to get vaccinated themselves and to complete the vaccination training to prepare for the new employment opportunity.
"I think they've been a bit frustrated that they hadn't been able to get into the thick of this beforehand," Professor Lincoln said.
"They see themselves as a resource for the community and I know that they are absolutely delighted today with that announcement."
Currently only the Calvary public hospital has a policy of accepting students who have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccination for work placements, but Professor Lincoln said other sites could start bringing in mandates.
The pandemic has increased the profile of nursing as a profession. Professor Lincoln said the university saw a 30 per cent increase in applications for people to study nursing this year, in both first and second semester.
"People who choose to do nursing and midwifery tend to be community-minded people who are interested in caring for others, and so how lucky are we to have nearly 800 of those types of students in our university?" she said.
Ms McDowell said she was drawn to nursing because it involved problem solving and building relationships with people.
"I really enjoy that communication side of it, relating to people and making them feel better, but I also love biology and chemistry and that kind of thing so it's sort of the best of both worlds."
