US masters of nursing wanting to work in Australia

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Hi,

I recently finished my undergrad in psychology and am looking into several different paths to pursue my medical passion, including physicians assistant, masters of nursing, or nurse practioner.

I also lived in Australia for 1.5 years and would love to go back and work there.

Could someone please tell me how I may do this? If I got my masters of nursing in the US would it transfer over to Australia as a masters? Also I know Australia is just beginning to encorporste PA'system into their system, but does anyone know if I were a certified PA in the states if there would be any work for me in Australia?

Thanks for the help!

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Hi there! As someone who has worked in both countries as a nurse, I would advise to not move to Australia if you are looking to advance your career in healthcare.

The healthcare system here is embarrassingly outdated, slow and inefficient, which leads to decreased patient safety and substandard treatment in many areas. Even as someone who is naturally positive and optimistic, I can tell you is not looking good.

I've seen very little in the way of NPs or PAs here. A faction of the AMA is successfully fighting against the advancement of nursing and have sting ties with government. Some of the physicians, mostly the hacks, are worried about upsetting the status quo and losing control of their livelihood.

Due to my partner's position and status, I know several long-time members of the AMA, Royal Australia College of Surgeons, etc. The ones I am friendly with very good people and are on our side, but as a group, don't carry enough influence over legislation.

In general, nurses seem to be under valued down here.

To answer some of questions directly...

Could someone please tell me how I may do this?.. Yes. I could at least help guide. I went through the process a little over a year ago. Are you a registered nurse at this point? If so, are you certified in any specialties?

If I got my masters of nursing in the US would it transfer over to Australia as a masters?... Yes!

does anyone know if I were a certified PA in the states if there would be any work for me in Australia?.. I can look into that further. I remember seeing some advertised NP positions, however they do not seem very common. I'm also not sure as too how many NPs Oz has been producing per year.

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Thank you so much Clarke..every bit of insight helps!

A bit about myself, I graduated with a BA in psychology and am finishing up my prerequisites to go to either a PA or NP program. I lived in Australia for about 2 years and would love to go back and live there for an extended period of time, but am finding that NP, and especially PA's are not a common profession.

Do NPs in Australia have the same/similar roles to NPs in the states?

I also recently have been hearing that PA's typically go into more technical specialties in the states (i.e. oncology, surgery, etc) and NP's typically go into more general specialties (i.e. OBGYN, pediatrics, etc). Do you find that NPs in Australia usually work in similar fields as here in the states?

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Sorry. I have never even met an NP or PA in Australia this far. I'm not gonna hold by breath either. Your guess might be as good as mine. If I find anything out, I'll let ya know.

I'm still waiting for them to start using computers.

Virtually everything has been stellar down here, besides the nursing career. We moved down here for my partner's career (which has been working out great). Both of us are down about the nursing world down here. Dedpite being quite happy in every other area of life, if we knew then what we know now about the condition of the nursing profession down here, it may have been a deal breaker. That's how disappointing it is.

It's also scary. I can not belive the low quality of typical care down here. Most of it relates to the lack of technology. With no embellishment... I've seen more medication errors, falls, pressure sores, and hospital aquired infections over av few months working one day per week here than I've seen over 2 years of working full time over there.

We are staying, but only because I've decided to take my career in a new direction. It's disappointing because I used to get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction working clinically in the States.

Honestly, I really do wish I had better news for both you and I.

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Do you think it could be the facility you work at?

What's your new path?

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No, it is not because of experiences from an individual facility. I work at 19 different hospitals across the Melbourne region. I'm quite sure the problems are systemic.

I'm almost finished obtaining a cert 4 in training and assessment. I first decided to get this in order to start tutoring at uni. More recently, I am finding that it is opening a wide veriety of opportunity.

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