How is nursing in AUSTRALIA??????

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Hi,

My wife just got a job in Australia (engineering). I do not want to be separated from her for too long and plan to follow her. Please let me know about job opportunities in Australia. What is the patient to nurse ration in ICU. Is pay well? Are the benefits good? I am a NICU nurse in USA. Do I have to take any testing for the licence since mine is valid in USA only? Which hospitals are best for trauma in Sidney?

Any other helpful info will be appreciated.

Thanks

MR

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Hi,

My wife just got a job in Australia (engineering). I do not want to be separated from her for too long and plan to follow her. Please let me know about job opportunities in Australia. What is the patient to nurse ration in ICU. Is pay well? Are the benefits good? I am a NICU nurse in USA. Do I have to take any testing for the licence since mine is valid in USA only? Which hospitals are best for trauma in Sidney?

Any other helpful info will be appreciated.

Thanks

MR

Hi MR,

I have no idea how hard it is to jump through all the beurocratic hoops in order to be allowed to work here in Australia but I can tell you that they need nurses desperately!! I think the best trauma hospital in Sydney is Prince of Wales Hospital--a very large adults and paediatric public hospital near Coogee beach which is an attractive area about 15 minutes by car from downtown Sydney. I don't know about the nurse to patient ratio in ICU. There are no real trauma units in private hospitals here, as far as I know. They (private hospitals) mainly handle low level emergencies and elective operations.

I expect you could get the hospital to sponsor you to help you get through all the paperwork. Generally Australian nurses don't have as high a skill level, as far as I know, as you guys in the US so hopefully your training would be acepted without having to do too much other than learning different names for the same standard drugs. I'll see if I can find a link to this hospital for you and post it next.

Good Luck

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Here is the link to POWH

http://www.sesahs.nsw.gov.au/POWH/

As for wages, I work 4 days a week and make about $60,000 per year. I would make maybe $70 - 75K per yr if full-time. You need to prove that you have at least 8 yrs experience to make the top rate. You get paid extra for working different shifts, weekends, public holidays etc. The flat rate (without the extras known as "penalty rates" ) is about $29.00 per hour. My wage above includes "penalties". If you don't work weekends the money is not great. Eg you get paid the flat rate plus 75% for working Sundays, or plus 50% for Saturdays.

Hope this helps.

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Specializes in Adult General ICU & Orthopaedics.

Hi MR,

How is nursing in Australia?

Well here in Sydney there are two types of nurses:

1. Enrolled Nurses (called Div2 Nurses in some other states) these are basically equivalent to what you call a LPN in the US. Enrolled Nurses or EN's are technical nurses who provide much of the basic bedside care. To become an EN one must undertake a year long hospital based training program with the theory component delivered in blocks at a technical college.

2. Registered Nurses; RN's are the professional nursing care providers they are university trained. In Australia a Bachelor of Nursing degree usually takes 3 years of full-time study, although now there are graduate entry programs and accelerated programs.

The healthcare system in Australia is less profit driven than in the USA, although we have private hospitals here, the public health system is definitely the biggest employer of nurses, and provides the most diversity of work environments. Other differences include the division of labor, there are no Physician's Assistants or Respiratory Therapists in hospitals here, these roles are performed by nurses.

The wages as described by bagwash are pretty accurate, I have heard of Clinical Nurse Specialists earning up to $85 000AUD/year. Depending on the day, 1 Aussie dollar will buy between 0.75 - 0.80 USD. Additionally your employer will contribute to your superannuation (retirement plan), most hospitals also provide study leave and have good continuing education opportunities.

About registration (lisensing) to practice in Australia, there is no national exam (such as NCLEX) at the moment. Each state maintains it's own nursing registration board. You will need a visa that allows to you work here. For visas you need to check the website of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA):

http://www.immi.gov.au/extend/index.htm

Essentially if you are an American citizen, a Registered Nurse, are in good health and have no serious criminal convictions and have enough money in your bank account to survive when you arrive here then you should have no great problems in obtaining the appropriate visa. Your local Australian consulate may also be a good place to get info.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) are a national professional body who carry out assessments of skill levels and qualifications of overseas trained nurses wishing to work in Australia. Here is their website:

http://www.anmc.org.au/

Once your qualifications are assessed and recognised you will then need to apply for registration with the appropriate state registration board. If you wish to work in Sydney (located in the state of New South Wales (NSW)), then you will register with the NSW Nurses and Midwives Board:

http://www.nmb.nsw.gov.au/

If you are a NICU nurse then the Prince of Wales Hospital, as suggested by bagwash has a good NICU. Sydney's largest paediatric hospital is The Children's Hospital at Westmead, they also have a very good NICU:

http://www.chw.edu.au/about/jobs/nursing/grace/

As far as trauma goes, Sydney's largest and busiest trauma hospitals are Westmead Hospital (different from Westmead Kid's mentioned above) and Liverpool Hospital:

http://www.westmeadtrauma.org/

http://www.swsahs.nsw.gov.au/livtrauma/default.asp

Both of these hospitals have NICU, Liverpool also has paediatrics. Westmead Hospital does not have paediatrics because the Children's Hospital at Westmead is right next door, however they do maintain a small NICU because they have a large obstetrics department there.

Hope this info helps youor anyone else thinking of visiting and wrking here for a while.

Cheers,

Grandy

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Hi,

My wife just got a job in Australia (engineering). I do not want to be separated from her for too long and plan to follow her. Please let me know about job opportunities in Australia. What is the patient to nurse ration in ICU. Is pay well? Are the benefits good? I am a NICU nurse in USA. Do I have to take any testing for the licence since mine is valid in USA only? Which hospitals are best for trauma in Sidney?

Any other helpful info will be appreciated.

Thanks

MR

Hi. Are you still interested in working in Aus? I am a UK trained nurse and am working in US right now and 10 years in Aus and NZ.

You need a 3 year training program for Aus registration as RN. An associates degree is not considered adequate for RN registration.

Aus nursing MUCH more autonomous than US - roles VERY different - nurses do all the work an RT would do in US so expected to be v proficient at ventilation, ABG manipulation blah-blah. 1:1 ratio for intubated for this reason. 1:2 if extubated. Much more protocol and nursing driven in ICU as opposed to US where need a doctors order to do anything at all.

You wont believe this I know, but medical equipment several years ahead in Aus and NZ - I think FDA in US holds up a lot of approvals so there would be a lot of new equipment to learn.

Ventilation/ nippv/gases - need to be very very fluent in these areas where an RT does in states. crrt eg. cvvh, eddf, sled much more frequently used there also.

on the plus side - prob about 7 weeks paid leave a year inc public holiday allowance, shift allowance etc - you will enjoy the increased autonomy a lot - good luck - kiwitraveller

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Specializes in ICU.

I haven't added to this thread yet as others seem to have done very very well. Can I say a big thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to contribute? Possibly one of the best ways to fast track a visa is to apply through a hospital. Since most of our hospitals are goverment owned this is fairly straightforward. There are some pitfalls though - if you have kids NSW will insist on you paying full fee for tuition - even if you are going to a public school.

I KNOW we are looking for NICU nurses and the ratio of patient: nurse is higher in NICU - can be 3:1 but it very much depends on the patient acuity. Registration - simply apply to the state registration board where you want to work and follow what they recommend - luck!!

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Specializes in Perinatal, Education.

I am an OB nurse (both L&D and Postpartum). I have heard that there are only midwives staffing your units--no RNs. Is this true?

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Specializes in ICU.

We have very few RN's in midwifery - it is mostly midwives. However you can, I believe work in Mid while doing your course. You don't have to be a midwife though to work in obstetrics.

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Specializes in Perinatal, Education.

So, what do obstetrics RNs do? Is it similar to OB in the US?

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Specializes in ICU.

Midwives have the ability to be independant practitioners. In many ways they are far far more independence in practice even within the hospital setting. Our model of care is more based on the UK model than the American one.

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[bANANA]Help!!![/bANANA]

In ANMC Form B - Full Migration Skills Assessment Application Item 8 asking for Nursing Experience? Is this a requirement? What should a Graduate Nurse from the Philippines without experience write in the application if they intend to migrate and register as nurse in Australia?

My sister want to register in Nursing Board of Tasmania and she's willing to undergo Migrant Bridging Program. NBT website states:

Information for nurses who undertook their educational preparation overseas.

Nurses wishing to apply for registration/enrolment under the Nursing Act, 1995 who undertook their educational preparation overseas, and who have not previously been registered/enrolled in an Australian State or Territory,
must have their suitability for registration/enrolment assessed by the ANMC prior to making application with the Nursing Board of Tasmania
. Forms for ANMC assessment are available on (
www.anmc.org.au
).

What should a New Graduate Nurse write in Item 8 of ANMC Full Migration Assessment Form asking for experience? Can the applicant leave that part blank and state a letter of intent to register in Tasmania?

[bANANA]Help!!- Please Help!![/bANANA]

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1777066.htm

Nurses walk off job to highlight staff shortages

Emergency Department Nurses at the Launceston General Hospital have taken to the streets to raise public awareness about staff shortages.

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