American Nurse Seeking to Work in Australia

World Australia

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Hey there! Sorry if this a repeat of several other topics..I've been reading through many threads, and there is so much information, I'm getting overloaded.

I'm an RN currently working as a traveler in the US. I have almost 2 years of experience. I would really love to work in Australia though. I have spoken to one travel agency - Worldwide Travel Staffing, but haven't talked to them much more than a couple phone calls. All I've really gotten out of them is it's usually a year-long commitment, and lots of paperwork?

I've seen some people say work with an agency, don't work with an agency..and the whole process just seems very confusing. Any tips, hints? Do I need to do one of the bridging programs..take an exam? I'm very tentative to do this by myself without an agency there to help me out.

Thanks!!

Specializes in Pediatric Primary Care.

Great, thanks, I hope I don't have to! There's only one date that would be relatively close to me in the next several months.

I really hope all this works out, I'm getting really excited just thinking about it!

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Specializes in Pediatric Primary Care.

Does anyone know someone who has successfully received their Australian license, and was from the US or Canada? I would love to be able to chat with them.

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Hi,

I just received my eligibility letter from AHPRA yesterday. From what I understand is my license is finalized and all they need from me is physically present in AHPRA with my passport and visa, and I should be receiving my license few days after. I'm a nurse in US with 1 year exp. The whole process for applying the registration is fairly smooth for me. I Fedex my application on June 9, they send me ane -mail on June 19 saying they received my application, time frame for my application is 4-6 weeks and they also requested some additional document. I Fedex my documents to them and they received it on July 4. I received an e-mail from my professional officer on July 25 saying they've mailed me my eligibility letter.

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Hi,

I just received my eligibility letter from AHPRA yesterday. From what I understand is my license is finalized and all they need from me is physically present in AHPRA with my passport and visa, and I should be receiving my license few days after. I'm a nurse in US with 1 year exp. The whole process for applying the registration is fairly smooth for me. I Fedex my application on June 9, they send me ane -mail on June 19 saying they received my application, time frame for my application is 4-6 weeks and they also requested some additional document. I Fedex my documents to them and they received it on July 4. I received an e-mail from my professional officer on July 25 saying they've mailed me my eligibility letter.

Not long now then! May I ask where your thinking of living and working down here?

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re: Bringonthenight

I'm thinking Sydney and Melbourne, I've been contacting some nurse agencies and they are located in these 2 cities. So my plan is to work for the nurse agencies while looking for long-term jobs in the hospital.

My concern is housing and transportation, coz I will be traveling with my cat, in what area should I look for an apartment? any websites that you recommend? I'm also thinking of having a roommate......

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re: Bringonthenight

I'm thinking Sydney and Melbourne, I've been contacting some nurse agencies and they are located in these 2 cities. So my plan is to work for the nurse agencies while looking for long-term jobs in the hospital.

My concern is housing and transportation, coz I will be traveling with my cat, in what area should I look for an apartment? any websites that you recommend? I'm also thinking of having a roommate......

Hope you realise, Australia has tough quarantine laws and your cat will have to have shots before it leaves and microchip for Australia and when it lands in Australia that it goes into quarrantine for 30 days which you must pay for and it is not cheap.

You will have to decide where you will be for the 30 days quarantine so that you can visit and pick up your cat.

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re: Guide

Thank you for your advice. I've already contacted an USDA approved vet here in US, and my cat already got all the vaccines and chip that he needs to go to Australia. It is very expensive, but I really don't want to give up my cat :(. The earliest I can ship my cat is 12/15, so hopefully by that time I will have an idea which city I end up going......

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PHEW, Good luck :))It would be rotten to find out all these things just before it is time to leave.

Though we do have plenty of "moggy's"over here, you could have one of mine.!!

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re: Bringonthenight

I'm thinking Sydney and Melbourne, I've been contacting some nurse agencies and they are located in these 2 cities. So my plan is to work for the nurse agencies while looking for long-term jobs in the hospital.

My concern is housing and transportation.

Sydney and Melbourne are very expensive living and transportation. wise and getting permanent work in Melbourne Victoria is extremely hard. Have you considered somewhere like Brisbane, Queensland?

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re: Bringonthenight

One of my co-workers actually told me about Brisbane, from what I heard it's also a beautiful city :) My background is DOU (step-down ICU, cardiac care), so I really want to get a job in CCU, I don't mind if I have to move to another city in order to get a job in CCU.

I did have some short-term contract offered in rural area, they also provide housing which seems really good....... but I enjoy living in the cities......

How's nurse job market in Brisbane?

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re: Bringonthenight

One of my co-workers actually told me about Brisbane, from what I heard it's also a beautiful city :) My background is DOU (step-down ICU, cardiac care), so I really want to get a job in CCU, I don't mind if I have to move to another city in order to get a job in CCU.

I did have some short-term contract offered in rural area, they also provide housing which seems really good....... but I enjoy living in the cities......

How's nurse job market in Brisbane?

For experienced nurses the job market is much better then Melbourne and Sydney. And much better weather in Queensland! Haha. Brisbane has some excellent hospitals, one in particular is a cardiac hospital. Are you wanting to work in the public or private system?

Make sure your prepared for the different culture of nursing in Aus, some US and Canada nurses I have worked with do feel overwhelmed at the differences. Eg: We do not have step down units, ICU patients go straight to ward.

Keep me updated and ask any questions :)

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For experienced nurses the job market is much better then Melbourne and Sydney. And much better weather in Queensland! Haha. Brisbane has some excellent hospitals, one in particular is a cardiac hospital. Are you wanting to work in the public or private system?

Make sure your prepared for the different culture of nursing in Aus, some US and Canada nurses I have worked with do feel overwhelmed at the differences. Eg: We do not have step down units, ICU patients go straight to ward.

Keep me updated and ask any questions :)

Thank you so much for your reply. I did some research about public and private system, from what I understand is in general the public hospitals are higher acuity, and I enjoy working in the teaching hospitals, so I think I would prefer public hospitals. Which hospital is the cardiac hospital in Brisbane? I would like to do some research on that hospital :) can you also give me the names of some excellent hospitals so I can do some research on them too? Sorry I have too many questions :p Thank you!

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