Meeting AHPRA requirements as a International Trained Nurse from the Philippines

[Silverdragon102]

New thread discussing meeting APHRA requirements if trained in the Philippines.

Resources

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

International registration / Nurses / Home - Nursing Council of New Zealand

Part 1 thread New grad Filipino nurse wanting to work in Australia/New Zealand

Part 2 thread New grad Filipino nurse wanting to work in Australia/New Zealand

I have started a thread in the Immigration for Immigration requirements for Australia/New Zealand

[official02]

I think, this answers my questions:

"Why does the National Board need proof of accreditation from my education institution?

All higher education institutions in Australia are accredited by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and vocational education and training institutions are accredited by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).

All programs of study in Australia for nursing and midwifery are also accredited by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council and approved by the National Board. Your education institution and nursing or midwifery program of study must meet similar standards."

If we have CHED, they have TEQSA.

If we have BON, they have NMBA.

Missing link? ANMAC?!

Again, differences in process and system not the outcome. After all, it's their system, we have ours. Just different.

However, I still want to appeal.

[jmolina1985]

I can understand, this is frustrating. However, it is out of our hands. AHPRA had decided that we should undergo BP, we'll have to wait for the LoE, I have heard of Philippine-trained nurses in the old system that was granted direct recognition but those were rare and I proved none of them. Even then, the old system pointed Pinoys to the BP.

There are differences in the way nursing is practiced in Aus that from PH. For that alone we must respect their system and if they deem it neceaary for us to undergo additional training... it is us who want to enter their work force and I consider it fortunate that they haven't shut us off from the BP... and this option is still cheaper than ungergoing a full BSN.

I was surprised when they wouldn't even consider me as an AIN before given that I had three working experience in nursing considering that I should be qualified in every sense but that was the way it is, train or starve, I chose the first option and I survived. We are faced with a similar case here, take it or leave it. I would not stop you from making an appeal, perhaps you were meant to but there are somethings that we have to accept. Being an AIN made me realize that their nursing is different from ours, not much but in many ways. The use of their drugs, the incorporation of funding, their focus on pain management, the lack of family support, etc. Sometimes it is hard to accept but it is what it is.

[ordoghaz]

I think it's more to do with rampant forgery and fake documentation the Phil is known for... And the fact that, sadly having paascu and other orgs deal the with accreditation rather than ched directly may have to do with this as well.. There's is no clear cut system, or like a national database for graduates or registered nurses.

anyways, we can all guess. But essentially nothing's been changed, Filipinos would still need bp, like they always have.

I need to make a mental map now on how to save up for a bp lol

[ordoghaz]

@jmmolina

i agree with you.. Sometimes even working from one hospital to another is difficult enough , so you need some sort of safety net for the public. That the nurses you take in, would deliver as expected. It is well within their rights to set rules, for us , it's take it or leave it.

[ordoghaz]

@official

by all means. You should.

[official02]

Well, the news came in a different wrapping. Perhaps, I'm still in the state of shock.

Although, I came here prepared for the Bridging and been wanting for that LOE. It saddens me still. The feeling of being so close, yet so far. Haha!

You see, 10,000 AUD is worth of 3-4 years of immense saving from work and much delayed gratification.

And the funniest thing about this Twitter chat?

We are still on the promise of WAITING.

Atleast, the pathway has now become clearer.

[iamnomad]

I do realise that a lot of Filipino RNs are stressed and anxious about the registration process. Most of you are frustrated because of the changes in the rules and the amount of time you have to wait for a decision. But I would like to give my opinion regarding some of the issues that penetrated this thread. And I hope my fellow Filipinos take this constructively.

1. Finding an employer to sponsor is quite difficult these days. I know someone who had to go home because he didn't find a job to transfer his 457 visa to. The process is much simpler than filing a new 457 visa as technically he still has a 457 visa. And yet, he couldn't find one sponsor. But I'm not saying that since he didn't find one you all would not find one either. It all depends on where you want to work, your qualifications, and a lot of determination. But again, it's not very easy.

2. It is not a right of anyone to petition any foreign government to change its rule just so to accommodate citizens of other countries. So asking the Australian government to relax its 457 visa regulations is a waste of time and energy. It's not up to the foreign nationals to do that. If there's really a need for 457 visa changes, it will be lobbied by the Australian people as they see fit.

3. Asking AHPRA to change its rules, expedite the registration process, and demand certain things is also a bit off to me. I waited 7-8 months before they approved my registration and I didn't resort to any bad mouthing of some sort. I always tell other overseas RNs that registration, whether in Australia or the US, is not a right but only a privilege. A right won't be taken away from you, but a privilege can be taken away. I was once refused registration in Australia when the registration was still under each States. I did not complain. I focused my attention to where I can work and moved on. I'm not saying that you all give up and look somewhere else for a job or where your registration will be recognised without any problems. But if you are really determined to uplift your lives, then you can do all things to realise it, regardless of where you are.

4. UK nurses have the legalities to challenge AHPRA when they were refused registration. They migrated to Australia because they had a positive skills assessment from ANMAC. ANMAC is the body responsible for screening nurses for migration purposes. It's framework for assessment is identical to AHPRA until AHPRA changed its rule. So in order to rectify the differences, AHPRA had to compromise since they can't just tell them that they have to go back to the UK where in fact they have a legal basis for migrating. The same reasoning can't be applied to Filipino nurses.

5. There's a lot of discrepancies when it comes to whether a Philippine Bachelor's is equivalent to an Australian Bachelor's or not. I was even caught in this dilemma when I applied for a postgraduate degree. I was thinking that since ANMAC and AHPRA recognised my degree as equivalent to a Bachelor's degree, then the universities will recognise my degree as well. Well, no. The AEI-NOOSR has various interpretations. So I have to do a bachelor's degree here in Australia just so I can do that postgraduate degree. Postgraduate degrees in nursing is different. They rely mostly on the fact that you have AHPRA registration. But the other postgrad degrees, you really have to have a bachelor's. What I'm trying to say is that because we are the ones asking the Australian institutions to do us a favour, we have to make sure that we are worthy of that favour. It is not up to the Australian institutions to give in just so we get what we want.

Anyways, I'm not totally familiar with all what's happening now so some of my arguments may be a little too off to some of you. But I wish you all the best and I hope you all get your registrations. It would be very nice to see more competent, talented, Filipino RNs here in Australia.

[official02]

I do realise that a lot of Filipino RNs are stressed and anxious about the registration process. Most of you are frustrated because of the changes in the rules and the amount of time you have to wait for a decision. But I would like to give my opinion regarding some of the issues that penetrated this thread. And I hope my fellow Filipinos take this constructively.

1. Finding an employer to sponsor is quite difficult these days. I know someone who had to go home because he didn't find a job to transfer his 457 visa to. The process is much simpler than filing a new 457 visa as technically he still has a 457 visa. And yet, he couldn't find one sponsor. But I'm not saying that since he didn't find one you all would not find one either. It all depends on where you want to work, your qualifications, and a lot of determination. But again, it's not very easy.

2. It is not a right of anyone to petition any foreign government to change its rule just so to accommodate citizens of other countries. So asking the Australian government to relax its 457 visa regulations is a waste of time and energy. It's not up to the foreign nationals to do that. If there's really a need for 457 visa changes, it will be lobbied by the Australian people as they see fit.

3. Asking AHPRA to change its rules, expedite the registration process, and demand certain things is also a bit off to me. I waited 7-8 months before they approved my registration and I didn't resort to any bad mouthing of some sort. I always tell other overseas RNs that registration, whether in Australia or the US, is not a right but only a privilege. A right won't be taken away from you, but a privilege can be taken away. I was once refused registration in Australia when the registration was still under each States. I did not complain. I focused my attention to where I can work and moved on. I'm not saying that you all give up and look somewhere else for a job or where your registration will be recognised without any problems. But if you are really determined to uplift your lives, then you can do all things to realise it, regardless of where you are.

4. UK nurses have the legalities to challenge AHPRA when they were refused registration. They migrated to Australia because they had a positive skills assessment from ANMAC. ANMAC is the body responsible for screening nurses for migration purposes. It's framework for assessment is identical to AHPRA until AHPRA changed its rule. So in order to rectify the differences, AHPRA had to compromise since they can't just tell them that they have to go back to the UK where in fact they have a legal basis for migrating. The same reasoning can't be applied to Filipino nurses.

5. There's a lot of discrepancies when it comes to whether a Philippine Bachelor's is equivalent to an Australian Bachelor's or not. I was even caught in this dilemma when I applied for a postgraduate degree. I was thinking that since ANMAC and AHPRA recognised my degree as equivalent to a Bachelor's degree, then the universities will recognise my degree as well. Well, no. The AEI-NOOSR has various interpretations. So I have to do a bachelor's degree here in Australia just so I can do that postgraduate degree. Postgraduate degrees in nursing is different. They rely mostly on the fact that you have AHPRA registration. But the other postgrad degrees, you really have to have a bachelor's. What I'm trying to say is that because we are the ones asking the Australian institutions to do us a favour, we have to make sure that we are worthy of that favour. It is not up to the Australian institutions to give in just so we get what we want.

Anyways, I'm not totally familiar with all what's happening now so some of my arguments may be a little too off to some of you. But I wish you all the best and I hope you all get your registrations. It would be very nice to see more competent, talented, Filipino RNs here in Australia.

All is well. :)

[ordoghaz]

@ imNomad

i would not have been able to explain these points better even if I tried, maybe unless I'm drunk lol

but I do mostly agree with you , it's the same in the UK, I still have to do modules and top up to do a bachelors, if I wanted to.

I would say though, for people who could manage get through this more stringent process with Ahpra, most aus unis should in effect, make it easier now to do a post grad. As essentially you have proven to have had an aus degree equivalent in practice and theory

[gin_buko]

According to one of the twitter responses of AHPRA, the philippines together with india does not meet the required criterias 2 and 3 but they will refer us for the bridging program if we happen to meet the other requirements. I wonder if we filipino nurses are able to qualify the said others....

[ordoghaz]

I think we all just to have to wait and see.. Who's been waiting the longest here? Me since mid Feb

[Ba5ty]

Nov, 2013....