Aussie nurses working in the USA

citrus3 · Jul 8, 2004

yes, we're here. i did my degree in the philippines though, and did all the u.s. paperwork from sydney. i'll ask a friend to join this forum so he could give you the info you need. he's been here for a year and a half, and went to the uni in wagga wagga, NSW, so be patient and keep checking back. :)

Koalablue · Jul 8, 2004

Thank-you..much appreciated! Any info or advice would be gratefully received :-)

zulu1 · Jul 8, 2004

yes, we're here. i did my degree in the philippines though, and did all the u.s. paperwork from sydney. i'll ask a friend to join this forum so he could give you the info you need. he's been here for a year and a half, and went to the uni in wagga wagga, NSW, so be patient and keep checking back. :)

Thanks for replying. Now I have a question for you. Did you enjoy your training in the philippines? Was it expensive ? Am in the U.K and would need 3 rotations in order to get all the qualifications. The training here is so specialised and after 3 years I will come out with a degree as an adult nurse with no mental health, maternity or child nursing. Kindly reply my message.

lopid · Jul 8, 2004

Thank-you..much appreciated! Any info or advice would be gratefully received :-)

Hi Koala,

I have been in the US for about 2 years. I'm not sure if I can advise you on anything in particular but to say that various states have prerequisite hrs. re maternity and paeds and it may be worth your while checking those out and then possibly doing a mothercraft course or something along that line.

I trained at what is now Charles Sturt and things have changed a lot. When I trained Nurses were still being trained in hospitals so there is a lot of water under the bridge. The other thing to keep in mind is that it took about a year to get the stuff ready to actually sit the NCLEX and then it took another year for the visa stuff to get processed. How much longer do you have on your course?

suzanne4, RN · Jul 9, 2004

Hi Koala,
I have been in the US for about 2 years. I'm not sure if I can advise you on anything in particular but to say that various states have prerequisite hrs. re maternity and paeds and it may be worth your while checking those out and then possibly doing a mothercraft course or something along that line.
I trained at what is now Charles Sturt and things have changed a lot. When I trained Nurses were still being trained in hospitals so there is a lot of water under the bridge. The other thing to keep in mind is that it took about a year to get the stuff ready to actually sit the NCLEX and then it took another year for the visa stuff to get processed. How much longer do you have on your course?

Where are you working? It must be someplace like California or some place that is handled thru the Texas office. Vermont office is handling petitions in just a few weeks, and that covers the New York area as well.

citrus3 · Jul 9, 2004

Zulu, nice pen name(or however you call it) by the way. i don't think i'll be much help here. i was born in the philippines and moved to australia straight after uni. the nursing degree education over there is somewhat patterned after the american one. Don't loose hope (inspiration there. . ) There's a guy here who works in the operating theatres and he's from scotland. will try and get some info from him. i can also ask him to join the forum- like lopid.

Thanks for replying. Now I have a question for you. Did you enjoy your training in the philippines? Was it expensive ? Am in the U.K and would need 3 rotations in order to get all the qualifications. The training here is so specialised and after 3 years I will come out with a degree as an adult nurse with no mental health, maternity or child nursing. Kindly reply my message.

citrus3 · Jul 9, 2004

Zulu1, apologies. I didn't realise you're in the U.K. (udduh) This is even easier. I know somebody here who's from the U.K. She's also in the operating theatres working with the scottish lad. Will get you some info.

Thanks for replying. Now I have a question for you. Did you enjoy your training in the philippines? Was it expensive ? Am in the U.K and would need 3 rotations in order to get all the qualifications. The training here is so specialised and after 3 years I will come out with a degree as an adult nurse with no mental health, maternity or child nursing. Kindly reply my message.

Koalablue · Jul 9, 2004

Hi Koala,
I have been in the US for about 2 years. I'm not sure if I can advise you on anything in particular but to say that various states have prerequisite hrs. re maternity and paeds and it may be worth your while checking those out and then possibly doing a mothercraft course or something along that line.
I trained at what is now Charles Sturt and things have changed a lot. When I trained Nurses were still being trained in hospitals so there is a lot of water under the bridge. The other thing to keep in mind is that it took about a year to get the stuff ready to actually sit the NCLEX and then it took another year for the visa stuff to get processed. How much longer do you have on your course?

Hi Lopid,

I have one more semester to go. I should be finished by October this year. I've looked into Charles Sturt but their maternal/paeds course doesn't involve any clinical hours so is no use really unfortunately! I am heading at this stage to California, so expect a long wait on paperwork, although my fiance is applying for new jobs in other states so I don't know now where I might end up!

Maybe I'll just work at McDonalds? LOL

I initially started my training through the hospital too (way back in '89). Wish I'd finished it now!

zulu1 · Jul 10, 2004

Zulu, nice pen name(or however you call it) by the way. i don't think i'll be much help here. i was born in the philippines and moved to australia straight after uni. the nursing degree education over there is somewhat patterned after the american one. Don't loose hope (inspiration there. . ) There's a guy here who works in the operating theatres and he's from scotland. will try and get some info from him. i can also ask him to join the forum- like lopid.

thanks so much

lopid · Jul 12, 2004

Koala,

If getting a visa is not going to be an issue for you why don't you see if you can get cross credits for what you have done at La Trobe through an American university and see if that is quicker, plus you'll be in the US and you can sus things out from here. I know work wise you would not have any trouble getting a job as a CNA though the work and the pay can be pretty bad. Its worth a look anyhow.

Hi Lopid,
I have one more semester to go. I should be finished by October this year. I've looked into Charles Sturt but their maternal/paeds course doesn't involve any clinical hours so is no use really unfortunately! I am heading at this stage to California, so expect a long wait on paperwork, although my fiance is applying for new jobs in other states so I don't know now where I might end up!
Maybe I'll just work at McDonalds? LOL
I initially started my training through the hospital too (way back in '89). Wish I'd finished it now!

Koalablue · Aug 1, 2004

Well, I may be making some progress on getting some child and maternal health stiff done at uni. I am doing 3 subjects this semester: Emergency Nursing, Primary Health Care and Complex Care. It seems Complex Care is a `consolidation' subject on our previous med/surg subjects. What this means I'm not sure really :chuckle

Anyhow, seems we can choose an area of nursing we'd like to explore outside of just med/surg (if the uni agrees) for the five weeks (200 hours) of placement for Complex Care. I spoke to the coordinator and said how I want some time with both kids and maternity nursing. Looks like she might go for it.

There are only ten hours of tutorials associated with the subject, and of course they have nothing to do with kids or maternity. But I figured I could always take a summer distance ed course in child and maternal health (much easier to find one of those if I'm not also trying to find clinicals attached to the subject too). Maybe this way I can meet the hours required by the US?

Knowing my luck, the US somewhere somehow requires the clinicals to be attached directly to the child/maternal subject. I'm gonna do it anyway this way, as it loses me nothing regardless, and I'd like the experience with kids etc....so if I do have to do some more study in the US/here at home next year then at least I will have some prior knowledge.