Icu nurse moving from uk to Australia

[Sarahcarty87]

Hi, was looking for some advice. I have been an icu nurse for 7 years now and am looking to move to Australia, thinking about Queensland. Does anyone know hours/pay just now for critical care and if this specialty is difficult to enter in Australia?

anyone know of any agencies? My only issue would be , well it's been 7 years since I have done any general ward work so would feel more comfortable in crit care 😀

[YeXinZhi, BSN, RN]

Hi,

Rates of pay are determined by the current Nurses' award, and they diffee by state. In queensland, the highest pay scale for grade 5 RN's is 7 (6 years experience and up) with the corresponding hourly rate of $43.53/hour.

Weekend rates would be $65.29 for Saturday (150%) and 76.17 for Sundays (175%). Afternoon shifts attract a 12.5% penalty and night shifts a 20% penalty.

I don't think you'd have a hard time getting a job as an ICU nurse but I'm not sure about overseas recruitment (specifically 457 work visas). You can try applying for permanent residence independently as a skilled worker. There are 3 large metropolitan hospitals in Brisbane and a big children's hospital plus other smaller public and private hospitals. There is also a big university hospital at the good coast and they've been recruiting for their ICU (they ad has been there for months!).

Good luck and I hope you get to settle in the lucky country!