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 PICU.

Aye, and you may not even need the RN to MSN. I've heard of many cases of the board accepting an American ASN because of our required skills and education to actually get an ASN. Also an online RN to MSN shouldn't make a difference. They are really just looking at class descriptions and credits.

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Yes, those 2 years associate degrees with experience have been accepted by AHPRA. You do not need a masters unless specialising or NP candidate.

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Specializes in Pediatric Primary Care.

Oh my gosh I just got my approval from AHPRA!!! Can't believe this is happening!!

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Specializes in PICU.

Yay! Congrats :)

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OMG finally I find a thread about the theory and clinical hours.

Please help me ladies (& gents). So I received the same message from AHPRA regarding my nursing courses...that I needed to state my the hours spent on each of the NSG subject and clinical. I was surprised that they required this additional info as I already have a BSN and 1 year work experience in an ICY step-down unit.

I emailed my college requesting for a letter stating the hours I spent in classes and clinical but they asked me if there was a minimum number of hours AHPRA was looking for. I am now confused as to what to tell them. After hours of research in the AHPRA and ANMC website the only information I received was that we are required to have spent a minimum of 6 semesters full-time and a minimum of 800 clinical hours.

Can one of you please let me know what and how your college stated the hours? Were they specific to the subjects of Medical/Surgical, Adult Nursing, Community Nursing and Mental Health Nursing?

Please help. I am at my wits' end with this paperwork. Worse still, I am out of the country and it is costing me a pretty penny to get everything in order.

Thank you!

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I understand you must be frustrated and your post shows this, but having education to BSN status from the US and working in a. HDU does not give Your assessment, compensations.

The Australian health system is focused on preventative medicine, our approach to nursing, the drugs the way things are ordered our health system is quite different to that of the USAnd therefore our nursing degree reflects that, community health nursing and mental health that has a community portion to it as we'll - though I do not think they are strict about doing mental health - community as long as you have done enough hours - I did and this was a few years ago 160 hours mental health, community, 160 hours, med surg- 160 hrs,All up about 16 weeks of clinical - but this is with Enrolled nursing exemption and doing the degree in 2.5 years.

Yes, they will need a breakdown of where you did your clinicals.

On saying that, Sounds like you got a tough assessor, they let many nurses in here with very little clinical experience . One nurse stated that she had done all her clinicals in a 'volunteer' year after she had graduated from her nursing school and was still given positive AHPRA assessment!!!Due to there being not enough student placements.....so she said was her explanation for AHPRA.

So the rest of us tow the line....good luck.

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gr9153-

I just received my approval from AHPRA a couple of weeks ago. I think I may have gone overboard, but I heard the more info you send them the greater chance of being approved. My background is that I'm an ADN RN with almost 2 years of ICU experience.

I had a couple of meetings with my dean and we came up with a table with the following columns. I included all of my courses- not just nursing core curriculum. I heard including absences was key- but my dean was very understanding and knew that I was a good student so we just said zero for each. The calculation we used was the same one that our nursing school uses for calculating minimum hours for the state.

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]Course

[/TD]

[TD]Course Title

[/TD]

[TD]Grade

[/TD]

[TD]Semester Units

[/TD]

[TD]Theory

Hours Completed

[/TD]

[TD]Science Lab Hours Completed

[/TD]

[TD]Clinical Facility

[/TD]

[TD]Description of Clinical Facility

[/TD]

[TD]Absences

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

For each theory hour we did 1x (# of semester units)x 18. For each clinical hour it was 3x(# of semester units) x 18. For science lab we used the same equation for clinical hours.

I also included copies of every nursing core class syllabus. Most of these I still had, but the couple that I didn't my dean provided. She also wrote me a very kind letter emphasizing all of our accreditation and went over how in the US one receives their RN license.

I hope this helps. Best of luck!

Oh and be sure to follow their notarizing instructions exactly.

Britt

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Wow, this thread is so informative!

I am an RN with 3 years of med/surg/stepdown experience. I would like to relocate to either Sydney or Melbourne sometime in 2013. This process seems really intense, I am a bit overwhelmed. I'm researching everything right now and from the sounds of it I should start with my AHPRA application.

I'm sure I will have lots of questions as I get started on this process but I'm glad I've found over people who are trying to figure this all out!

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At nephron19:

i just mailed out my application last week. it is very overwhelming to gather all the information they need, but dont feel discouraged. it is possible to get it all done, it just takes time. i also found this thread to be the most helpful. feel free to let us know if you have any other questions we can help you out with. good luck!!

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how is it going, did you find any decent agencies and do they supply accommadation ?

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Hi,

So glad to hear that some nurses got their approval from AHPRA. :)

I got a job interview next week in one of the hospitals in SYdney. I'm so excited. At the same time a little bit nervous :p I want to know a little bit mroe about nursing job interview here in Australia. Will they give me a clinical scenario and ask what would I do in that situation? I don't know how should I prepare for this interview. Introduce myself, tell them about my experience, why I choose this hospital???......Sorry I have too many questions, this is the first time I have a job interview here, I want to be well prepared. :p

Thank you!!!

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Re: Bringonthenight

Things are getting better! :) Thank you! I'm still interested in moving up to Brisbane. I've been checking the Queensland health website but from that I found out there are not many job openings in Brisbane's public hospitals. I will keep looking. :) I got a job interview next Wednesday in one of the public hospitals in Sydney. any advice on Rn job interviews in Australia??

I will keep you posted. Even if I don't end up moving to Brisbane, I will still go visit. I heard it's really nice during summer in Brisbane:)

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