Meeting AHPRA requirements as a International Trained Nurse from the Philippines

[Silverdragon102]

New thread discussing meeting APHRA requirements if trained in the Philippines.

Resources

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

International registration / Nurses / Home - Nursing Council of New Zealand

Part 1 thread New grad Filipino nurse wanting to work in Australia/New Zealand

Part 2 thread New grad Filipino nurse wanting to work in Australia/New Zealand

I have started a thread in the Immigration for Immigration requirements for Australia/New Zealand

[ladydee-rn]

hello ladydee-rn

i'll be attending arntp this oct, if everything will go as planned. since you've already done arntp, i just want to ask some questions.

1. just want to ask if we are ought to do the serology tests only at st. luke's extension clinic or the other clinic in makati (the only 2 clinics recognized by the australlian embassy for medicals). or we can do it in other local diagnostic labs?

do we really have to do serology tests and be vaccinated again? what i read in unisa's website is that we only have to be vaccinated against hep b and tb.

2. is it correct to assume that unisa will take care of our registration with ahpra? and the documents that we need to bring with us are the same with what we submitted to the university plus the proof identity documents.

3. how did you prolong your stay in Au? I'm sure it will be hard to find a job in a month's time.

4. what type of accomodation did you have. i'm planning to have mine at gosse in'tl student residences or kent town. do you know other places that are cheaper but decent to stay in.

5. can i have your email ad. sometimes questions just pop up in my mind and i know that you're the right person to ask since you've already gone through this.

thank you ladydee-rn. looking forward to your reply.:)

HI ACHING!

Here is my answer to your questions:

1. Before going to Australia, what I did was complete all the vaccination requirements. Then I had my serology done in Australia. The serology was covered by my insurance in Australia. You really need to comply all the vaccination requirements because you need that for your clinical placement and vaccines in Australia are expensive. In our batch, the mantoux test that I had overseas was accepted. But I heard recently that the APRIL 2013 students were required to have the test done in Australia. I'm not sure of this, please verify this from Unisa.

2. After completion of ARNTP, the school will submit the completion certificates and other documents to AHPRA-SA. Since UniSA is based in SA they will submit the documents to AHPRA-SA. To explain this further, this was my previous post:

I have the eligibility letter already when I applied for ARNTP. However, I did choose the program because it was the earliest intake I can get and some of the BP slots were already full. Though, the program is longer than the 3 months IRON program, I have learned a lot from it.

If you are enrolled in ARNTP you don't need the eligibility letter to process your registration. This is for ARNTP program only but you do need the eligibility letter for the IRON program. Though I have the eligibility letter from AHPRA it didn't expedite the processing of my registration.

The following are the information about the processing of registration for ARNTP graduates with or without eligibility letter

WITH ELIGIBILITY LETTER:

-I got my AHPRA eligibility letter from AHPRA-VIC. Schools would usually submit the list of students for the program and list of graduating students on the state they are located at. Since, UniSA is in South Australia the school submitted the confirmation of completion to AHPRA-SA. Then AHPRA-SA would be in contact to AHPRA office where I got my eligibility letter. The office to office transaction would really take time but it would also depend a lot from the school if they are fast enough to submit the completion certificates and other required docs to AHPRA. Aside from this, it would also depend on your case officer if he is prompt enough to process your registration.

-Fortunately, my case officer was really fast in processing my registration (or maybe because I got mine from AHPRA-VIC which is also the head office). I got my registration after 2 weeks from the date of our graduation. However, some of my classmates who got their eligibility letter from AHPRA-WA and AHPRA-ACT got their registration after 3-4 weeks. And for some who applied in AHPRA-SA got their registration after 1-2 weeks. It is really a case to case basis.

WITHOUT ELIGIBILITY LETTER

-Some of my classmates didn't have the eligibility letter when they applied for ARNTP. They applied for the GRADUATE REGISTRATION pathway which allows them to apply for registration 4 to 6 weeks before completion of the course. My classmates applied 4 weeks before our completion and some of them got their registration 3-4 days after our graduation and others got it after 1-2 weeks. It was really fast. Lucky for them since they didn't need and wait for the eligibility letter which took me and some of my classmates 4-8 months waiting time.

I was really hesitant to apply for ARNTP before because it will be longer studying time. However, I just realised that the waiting time for eligibility letter would take time as well. The struggle doesn't end after you got the eligibility letter because you also need to hunt for BP schools which is also time consuming.

However, you must also consider the cost, the time and the future expenses you will have when choosing ARNTP or IRON program. By doing so, it will help you plan in choosing the program that suits you.

FOR QUESTIONS 3,4,5 you can just pm me. Take care and Good luck on your application

[joejoe1]

Hi everyone, i hope all you experts can help me on answering question #11( details and qualifications of examinations/assessments) in the agos 40 application form. Ive read all the posts in this thread, however people seem to have different answers.

Should I write

Bachelor of Science in nursing

Far eastern university

Philippines

Dates

Or

Registered nurse

Philippine board of nursing, professional regulation commission

Philippines

Dates

And should i include vermont nclex exam here or is it enough that i indicate it in the registration history?

Thank you very much !God bless you all

[FranzSeno]

CONVERSION COURSE: do not need AHPRA approval just enrol at university get the credits from your previous nursing degree- takes 1-2 years, costs 10000=20000, but you need living expenses for all that time. You can work 20 hours a week only as you will have a student visa - BUT only as a nursing attendant, (pca) and depending where you are these jobs are now tough to get also.

After graduation you will have Australian Nursing degree- which everyone thinks will get you work anywhere, wrong. You will then need to apply for a Graduate program, these are very difficult to get (this is the postgrad program or training you where on a bout)

Local new graduates are desperate for these positions and they are supposed to be first chosen for these positions.

Only 45% got a grad position last year, this year is yet to be seen. They pick locals from locall universities, then locals from interstate, then NZ then graduate that need sponsorship in a graduate positon which you willl need as you have no right to work after study

UNLESS your nursing degree took 2 years and then you are entitled to stay in the country 2 years to work, by then however you should have your employer and have applied for permanet residency. Or if you like apply for PR straightaway after graduating as you have lots of points because you would have studied at Australian university.

Thats it in a nutshell. disclaimer I am not an immigration agent nor work at IMMI. do not take my advice as gospel, needs researching from your own perspective.

and a word of warning.....nursing is not a shortage at this time, overseas nurses after BP program are returning home at about 95% and another 4% are doing odd courses here and there just to stay in the country on student visa's. which will all end soon.

Ps some think going the Australian nursing degree will get them out of the IELTS requirement as some universities lower English requirement even for nursing. To register a a nurse you still must have the 7 Ielts requirement- many deceived after attending English speaking university this is easier to do, many are proven wrong.

Good day sir! I just want to have something to ask about the conversion course. Flinders offer a conversion course which takes about one year, after that do you still need to enrol in a graduate program again? isn't the conversion program enough (i do have 3 years of hospital experience)? and about the permanent residency, will you be eligible for a permanent residency after the conversion course?

PS

is there other universites in adelaide that offer the conversion course? Does UNISA have one?

[j1123]

Will you do your bp in ihna? Ihna will.check your.vaccines at the start of theory and i lack meninggo vaccine at that time so i had that vaccine here. Why won't you be able to.finish the vaccines? My friends were able to finish in one month time. They would have 2 vaccines each visit :)

hi, chelseaxyrene. i'm just curious: was the vaccine administered to you here in australia covered by your health insurance? thank you

[j1123]

hi everyone! I am quite nervous since it is my first time to travel abroad. can someone help me how to find good accomodation in Melbourne (preferrably near IHNA) and how did you travel from airport to your place? did you hire a airport transport? Thank you so much for your reply.

the university provided a free transportation service from the airport to the accommodation/house. alternatively, you can take the bus from the airport to the train station. not sure how a cab ride costs.

[j1123]

I had my medical exam yesterday at NHSI in Makati. Read somewhere in this forum that they release the results faster than St Lukes. But I dunno, NHSI say it takes 1-2 weeks. Regarding the physical exam, it's the usual. Medical history and Physical Assessment. You will be asked to take off your shirt/pants. The dr will also look for a tattoo and ask if you have hemorrhoids. I was assigned to a female dr since Im a girl. I saw a male dr im just not sure if he does the PE for all male patients.

it actually depends. my results were forwarded to Global Health Unit in Sydney just a few days after I had my medical exam.

[jems]

hi, chelseaxyrene. i'm just curious: was the vaccine administered to you here in australia covered by your health insurance? thank you

you can reimburse it but only when you had the insurance first before having the vaccine :)

[chelseaxyrene]

hi, chelseaxyrene. i'm just curious: was the vaccine administered to you here in australia covered by your health insurance? thank you

I don't have insurance :) but according to my friend who had insurance, it's covered.

[chelseaxyrene]

the university provided a free transportation service from the airport to the accommodation/house. alternatively, you can take the bus from the airport to the train station. not sure how a cab ride costs.

Oh, does IHNA provide free transportation from Airport to accommodation? I checked their website and as I remember they charge a certain amount that's why I did not avail :)

[marga18]

HI ACHING!

Here is my answer to your questions:

1. Before going to Australia, what I did was complete all the vaccination requirements. Then I had my serology done in Australia. The serology was covered by my insurance in Australia. You really need to comply all the vaccination requirements because you need that for your clinical placement and vaccines in Australia are expensive. In our batch, the mantoux test that I had overseas was accepted. But I heard recently that the APRIL 2013 students were required to have the test done in Australia. I'm not sure of this, please verify this from Unisa.

2. After completion of ARNTP, the school will submit the completion certificates and other documents to AHPRA-SA. Since UniSA is based in SA they will submit the documents to AHPRA-SA. To explain this further, this was my previous post:

I have the eligibility letter already when I applied for ARNTP. However, I did choose the program because it was the earliest intake I can get and some of the BP slots were already full. Though, the program is longer than the 3 months IRON program, I have learned a lot from it.

If you are enrolled in ARNTP you don't need the eligibility letter to process your registration. This is for ARNTP program only but you do need the eligibility letter for the IRON program. Though I have the eligibility letter from AHPRA it didn't expedite the processing of my registration.

The following are the information about the processing of registration for ARNTP graduates with or without eligibility letter

WITH ELIGIBILITY LETTER:

-I got my AHPRA eligibility letter from AHPRA-VIC. Schools would usually submit the list of students for the program and list of graduating students on the state they are located at. Since, UniSA is in South Australia the school submitted the confirmation of completion to AHPRA-SA. Then AHPRA-SA would be in contact to AHPRA office where I got my eligibility letter. The office to office transaction would really take time but it would also depend a lot from the school if they are fast enough to submit the completion certificates and other required docs to AHPRA. Aside from this, it would also depend on your case officer if he is prompt enough to process your registration.

-Fortunately, my case officer was really fast in processing my registration (or maybe because I got mine from AHPRA-VIC which is also the head office). I got my registration after 2 weeks from the date of our graduation. However, some of my classmates who got their eligibility letter from AHPRA-WA and AHPRA-ACT got their registration after 3-4 weeks. And for some who applied in AHPRA-SA got their registration after 1-2 weeks. It is really a case to case basis.

WITHOUT ELIGIBILITY LETTER

-Some of my classmates didn't have the eligibility letter when they applied for ARNTP. They applied for the GRADUATE REGISTRATION pathway which allows them to apply for registration 4 to 6 weeks before completion of the course. My classmates applied 4 weeks before our completion and some of them got their registration 3-4 days after our graduation and others got it after 1-2 weeks. It was really fast. Lucky for them since they didn't need and wait for the eligibility letter which took me and some of my classmates 4-8 months waiting time.

I was really hesitant to apply for ARNTP before because it will be longer studying time. However, I just realised that the waiting time for eligibility letter would take time as well. The struggle doesn't end after you got the eligibility letter because you also need to hunt for BP schools which is also time consuming.

However, you must also consider the cost, the time and the future expenses you will have when choosing ARNTP or IRON program. By doing so, it will help you plan in choosing the program that suits you.

FOR QUESTIONS 3,4,5 you can just pm me. Take care and Good luck on your application

thank you ladydee.

i had applied for oshc since its mandatory for international students. will it cover my serology tests?:):)

i will send a personal message today.

thank you again for your help. i hope everything will be okay.:)

[joejoe1]

Hi everyone, i hope all you experts can help me on answering question #11( details and qualifications of examinations/assessments) in the agos 40 application form. Ive read all the posts in this thread, however people seem to have different answers.

Should I write

Bachelor of Science in nursing

Far eastern university

Philippines

Dates

Or

Registered nurse

Philippine board of nursing, professional regulation commission

Philippines

Dates

And should i include vermont nclex exam here or is it enough that i indicate it in the registration history?

Thank you very much !God bless you all

[dinnomac]

Hi guys! Im here to ask about the time frame for processing the vaccinations needed for the school? Im hoping to enroll at AAON on their September intake. do you think I can catch up? Thanks!