Is australia flooded with overseas nurses?

TheMiss · Feb 7, 2012

Australia is still facing a huge nurses shortage. The recent situation that there are more grad nurses than grad nurse positions is limited to few cities. Overseas nurses are hardly ever accepted into a grad program unless they did another year of university in Australia. But most of the overseas nurses come with quite some experience and apply for jobs in a different market than grad nurses - and for experienced nurses there is no shortage for jobs.

But you are right - it would be nice if the forum could be used more to share Aussie/Kiwi nursing experiences

Silverdragon102, BSN · Feb 7, 2012

We try to keep this to just AU/NZ experiences and if you feel a thread would be better off in the International forum because it is about foreign nurse application then report it and we will review and if necessary move it

round12tko · Feb 8, 2012

It should be renamed to "HOW FOREIGN NURSES CAN WORK AND/OR MIGRATE TO AUSTRALIA OR NZ"

It seems the ones who do share nursing experiences in this forum are from OZ and NZ, the rest just want to get out of their country and nursing is the ticket.

Lorodz · Feb 10, 2012

Flooded or not, Australia is in need of nurses. A simple google search would give you some answer. What's with the question though?

MuppetAus · Feb 20, 2012

Australia has had an increase in the number of Indian nurses. Sadly the do not tend to stay long and move on quickly. Most of the jobs in australia are in rural and regional areas. One thing I have found from working with overseas nurses especially Indian nurses is huge language barriers and the difference between the role of a nurse in India and a nurse in Australia. Families in Australia do not tend to have a hands on role. They do not shower, toilet or tend to other hands on tasks where in India the tend too.

Some of the nurses have even stated that they don't really want to be here but there husbands want to move Australia, and nursing is a job that can get them into the Australian job market until they are able to get residency.

Fiona59 · Feb 21, 2012

You guys in Australia are just experiencing what the Canadian Forum has been going through since 2007. Canada has pretty much stopped overseas hiring, yet we get loads of "who will sponsor and pay for me to move to Canada" or "why does Canada not accept my NCLEX and let me in" posts.

The posts increase every time there is a graduating class in the Phillipines.

People just don't want to believe that there aren't 1000s of jobs waiting for them here. We have unemployed new grads and underemployed working nurses. Yes, we have vacancies up in the Arctic but those aren't for new grads or people who have no knowledge of the people who live up there and what the issues concerning their health care is.

We've had nurses tell us to our faces that Canada is only a stepping stone into the US and once retrogression is over, they are gone.

ceridwyn · Feb 26, 2012

Australia has had an increase in the number of Indian nurses. Sadly the do not tend to stay long and move on quickly. Most of the jobs in australia are in rural and regional areas. One thing I have found from working with overseas nurses especially Indian nurses is huge language barriers and the difference between the role of a nurse in India and a nurse in Australia. Families in Australia do not tend to have a hands on role. They do not shower, toilet or tend to other hands on tasks where in India the tend too.
Some of the nurses have even stated that they don't really want to be here but there husbands want to move Australia, and nursing is a job that can get them into the Australian job market until they are able to get residency.

This appears to be a common factor with nurses educated outside of Australia except those from the UK and Ireland.

RN's do everything, pans, bottles, all hygiene needs, fixing iv fluids starting iv fluids, taking phone calls from family and friends, taking angry phone calls because you cannot speak to a voice on the phone....chasing up a doctor to sign verbal orders, getting changes in orders, chasing pharmacy because 3out4-6 patients do not have their right medications ah ah, thank heavens I am not ward nursing anymore!!!!! Then oh dear another change of bed to do, and sometimes on your own! Family getting annoyed because you have not attended quick enough to the mother or fathers toilet request! n Oh hell....no orders for the next iv fluids!!! the last nurse on shift could not be bothered to get more orders!!! page the doctor again....God forbid anyone becomes unstable!!!!.

Many overseas nurses that I have worked with over the past 20 years find it quite a change from what is required from a nurse elsewhere.

Yes, we may have great pt ratios 'like' you only have 4 patients to care for on a morning shift!!! but there is lots to do.

canned_bread · Mar 29, 2012

In Australia there appears to be a large amount of foreign nurses, which is not a bad thing at all. We are crying that there is a nursing shortage, yet the interesting thing is that new graduate nurses can often struggle to find employment. They often want experienced nurses.

Sifty · Mar 31, 2012

They keep saying there is a nursing shortage but there is no money to employ new nurses to stop this shortage. Nor any to give any new grads the experience required to take on the role of the senior nurses when they all start retiring within the next few years.