'ello! want to move from UK to Aussie

gwenith, BSN, RN · May 28, 2006

Extra shifts? Mate, where I work the trick is to try and avoid extra shifts;) No kidding, nothing stopping you from working at a hospital AND doing agency.

Hard to do a full comparison between the UK and here but we have quite a few UK nurses here and they are not complaining.

Mind you we do have one thing the UK cannot beat us on - better weather:D

bleep073 · May 28, 2006

thanks for the reply.. i have 12 years expererience,and i want to get this job in melbourne.how much do u think would be my starting pay there?roughly how much is your take home pay in a month.?do you also have to pay for TV license in Oz?

OnTheShoales · May 29, 2006

Melbourne is the best, because the state of Victoria is the only one in Oz to have mandatory patient-to-nurse ratios. If you work in a public hospital, that is. Take home pay, after the Treasurer takes home your taxes, will be $1,500-$1,900 a week on a general ward, depending on how much your experience is credited for. With 12 years, you should be at the top of your grade.

We had a pair of Irish nurses who didn't buy a TV for three months because they were afraid of the licence tax. Then someone told them there wasn't one. People like to take the piss on unsuspecting newcomers. The airwaves have six free channels, even though half the programming is American shows that we get one year after they've been on elsewhere. You get "Neighbours" in Old Blighty, right? Life in Australia is just like that. And "Skippy." If you live in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, every block with a garden has its own mob. You'll have 'roos eating from your hand in six weeks max.

thanks for the reply.. i have 12 years expererience,and i want to get this job in melbourne.how much do u think would be my starting pay there?roughly how much is your take home pay in a month.?do you also have to pay for TV license in Oz?

bleep073 · Jun 2, 2006

i have got a silly question.. but i will still ask anyway.. :mad: .. when you're doing nights..do you get breaks there? I mean are you allowed to sleep? how many hours is your break on night shifts?

gwenith, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2006

Here on an 8 hour shift we are allowed 1x30 minute break and 2x10 minute breaks but some take that as one 50 minute break during the night. IT depends on where you work but the most and longest I know of is 1 hour.

OnTheShoales · Jun 2, 2006

Not entirely silly. At my hospital, night duty shifts are 10 hours: 2100 to 0730. (Day shift is 0700 to 1530, and arvo is 1300 to 2130. The 2-hour overlap is used for education, paperwork, etc.) Some night people close their eyes during their break, which can stretch to an hour. (Not officially.) It depends how you get on with your co-workers, whether they will cover your patients. Also depends on how their workload is. People who get the reputation of being bludgers, who neglect their work or nod off too long, find themselves in hot water, despite the Aussie trait of not dobbing people in.

i have got a silly question.. but i will still ask anyway.. .. when you're doing nights..do you get breaks there? I mean are you allowed to sleep? how many hours is your break on night shifts?