Australian citizen living in the US. Where to study nursing? Australia or US?

[Sufe]

Hello!

I'm an Australian citizen living in the US pursuing an RN degree. I finished all my prerequisites for the ADN program and I'm waitlisted. There is a high chance that I'll be getting into the program in the Spring 2021. However, my end goal is moving back to Australia. I have a 2.5 year old and think that raising a family is easier in Australia where all my family is. So I'm thinking of just moving to Australia and doing either a Masters in nursing or a bachelors, instead of having to go through the nursing program here and attempt to get registered with the board of nursing in Australia after. Another thing is I have heard that it can be difficult to get registered with the board of nursing if you don't have the required 800 hours of clinicals (my community college only has about 500 hours)?

Therefore I am conflicted, and want to know what it's like studying nursing in Australia compared to studying nursing in America?

[starbright8]

Following! ?

I'm in a similar situation, although I'm a U.S. citizen (living in the U.S.) married to an Australian (but I also used to live in Australia). I debated whether to go to school in the US vs Australia...over and over and over again (it was such a hard decision!). I have FINALLY decided to get my RN in the U.S. for several reasons:

- Schooling here is only 2 years as opposed to 3 years in Australia since I already hold another bachelor's degree.

- From what I read online, it seems to be harder for Australian nurses to transfer their credentials to the U.S. due to a more specialized nursing curriculum rather than the more general, but well-rounded curriculum in the U.S. (I want to be an RN in both counties so that even when I eventually move to Australia, I can still have the option of picking up remote telehealth jobs from the U.S. With the world and economy going bezerk, I want to keep all my doors open. ?)

- The program I want to do in Arizona is roughly the same price as the programs in Australia, so there are no real cost savings of doing schooling over there (not to mention the shorter duration).

- When we move back to Australia in the future, we want to live in a mid-size town (not the large cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, etc). From what my husband said and from what I read online, there might not be any/enough quality hospital jobs that will want to hire a new nursing graduate in those places. He said the easiest jobs to get will probably be in the outback or I'll have a long commute to a place willing to give me experience. I really don't want to do that. Generally speaking--and particularly in the area where I live (Phoenix, AZ)--I think the U.S. offers more diverse job opportunities overall for those fresh out of school.

After I get 1-2 years of hospital experience here after graduation, I'll move to Australia and transfer my credentials. At that point, I'll be much more "hireable" for the desired jobs I want in the area where we'll be living.

My reasons above might not apply to you at all, but I thought I'd at least share my thought process in the hopes that it might help you in some way.

But, I'd still love to hear other people's experiences as there doesn't seem to be a lot of info online about this.

Good luck with your research!

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

Do it where you want to spend the majority of your career.