New grad Filipino nurse wanting to work in Australia/New Zealand

World Immigration

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Hi everyone, please help me.

I graduated last march 2007 here in the Philippines and I have my license here already.

Because of oversupply of nurses here, it's too difficult to find a job.

That's why I'm looking forward to working in Australia or New Zealand.

However, I'm confused. Esp about Australia.

I already have my bachelors degree here.

When I go there in Aus to work as RN, must I take a diploma in nursing first? can I work while studying?

After obtaining my diploma there, am I already a registered nurse?

Thank you!

Specializes in Med-Surg / ICU / Aged Care.
hello, my 1st post here, tho been reading this thread for months, anyway, hope you could help me guys with my problem. I applied to NSW and NBV, I received my "letter" from NBV just this week. Problem is I much prefer to do the BP in NSW as I have a relative there who will take me under her wing, as compared to doing my BP in Vic which will be much much more expensive. but I still lack some papers for NSW like the verification and good standing from my US license.

What should I do? shall i still submit my papers to NSW?, Is there a reciprocity thing for the BP?

This is a new case/query.. My opinion: Yes you can use your NBV approval to enrol in a BP school in Sydney/NSW.. forget about your NSW approval if it is incomplete then dont waste time complying it because you already have NBV approval..

I strongly believe in my opinion above.. However, if there other high IQ forumers here who could give better answer then please do so for bekimon's benefit (in that case, just disregard my above answer/opinion, i dont intend to argue my answer in the supreme court)..

good luck, just shoot your questions..

Specializes in Medical/Communicable Ward.
This is an interesting question as I have thought about this too. Here is my speculation:

According to the New Application form for Overseas Nurses the following categories of qualifications are as follows: (italics my comments)

In accordance with section 53 of the National Law, to be eligible for General

Registration you must be qualifi ed for general registration in the health

profession.

To be qualified you must either:

a. hold an approved qualifi cation for the health profession;

(graduates of approved nursing educational programs in Australia; BN, DIPLOMA, MSN,MN etc..; any nationality as long as the education was undertaken in Australia usually in a University setting and usually 3 years in duration )

or

b. hold a qualification that the National Board considers to be substantially

equivalent, or based on similar competencies, to an approved

qualifi cation;

( in the previous stateboards, this category include those with qualifications to practise in UK, Ireland, Singapore, Hongkong, USA, and certain EU countries plus having at least 1 year fulltime equivalent work experience and at the time of application must be practising as nurse in preceeding six months( meaning the work experience is very recent; even if the work experience is twelve years, but the practioner's last pracitse was more than 6 months ago, he is no longer qualified in this category( b). the nursing education may have been taken in the prevously mentioned countries. This category may include a Pinoy with BSN from let's say Medina College in Ozamiz City, but has a license to practise in one of the above countries and has at least 1 year full time equivalent nursing experience in that country.

At one point South African qualifications were included in this category but was then considered to be under category ©: I think the New NMBA will generally follow the same pattern although changes are bound to happen because the various boards before have different say on this area.)

or

c. hold a qualification, not referred to in (a) or (b), relevant to the health

profession AND have successfully completed an examination or other

assessment required by the National Board for the purpose of general

registration in the health profession;

(This is where most of us will fall under; We have to take the BP, CAS, or other Pre- registration courses.

or

d. hold a qualification, not referred to in (a) or (b), that under the National

Law, or a corresponding prior Act, qualifi ed you for general registration in

the health profession AND you were previously registered on the basis of

holding that qualifi cation.

(This is where our lucky cioman belongs. ( corresponding Prior Act in NT) and no one can go through this pathway anymore.) Practioners under this category are perfectly legitimate and legal and they have the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as with categories a,b, and c.

So unless you get a license from the countries in category b and have a one year fulltime equivalent nursing work experience in that country so that you may be considered under category (b), I think that even if you gain a PhD in nursing from Silliman or Cebu Normal University and you have 2 years ICU experience in St luke's or PGH, you will need to undergo a BP or CAS or similar assessments the Board may consider in the future under category ©.

for recency of practise, nursing practise outside australia is considered as long as you have the authority to practise in that area and the nature of the setting is similar to that of an australian setting.

Holders of NZ license may apply through another pathway using the transtasman mutual act.

Just my 2 cents a penny. But thats the most logical i can think of.

whoa very precise answer. thank you so much for that. :yeah:

Specializes in Med-Surg / ICU / Aged Care.
I have a theoretical question. Anyone may answer. Do you think experienced, supposing two years, ICU nurse from a premiere hospital in the Philippines would meet the recency of practise standard? Like cioman, can BP be legally bypassed if the nurse considered is extra qualified, supposing, aside from being an ICU nurse he also got MSN. Thanks.

Recency of Practice ----- generally speaking, as part of the eligibility requirements, your last nursing practice/work should not be more than 5 years ago (double check mo lang kung 5 years pa rin or 3 years na now), meaning if you stop working last June 2005 which is more than 5 years ago, then you do not meet this eligibility.. now the stuff that javRN had discussed are specifics or certain instances as he clearly correctly explained.. me, im just talking about recency of practice in general terms..

as what javRN said, if you have 12 years experience and MSN or PHD all done or obtained here in the philippines, then you have to undergo still the BP.. javRN mentioned exceptions like had worked in UK, etc..

good luck..

Specializes in Med-Surg / ICU / Aged Care.
hi everyone, im just new here. I just saw the new forms by the board. I would just like to ask the following:

A.) is prc board certificate of registration and board rating still needed as a requirement or just the prc certificate of good standing? It would be mailed by prc direct to the nurses board, right? Send the prc board certificate (yung looks like a diploma) and let the prc send directly the cert. Of good standing.. Yun lang..

B.) what are the academic qualifications needed? Just the bsn diploma, tor and rle records? Am i right? Could it be just a certified tru copy of each? Is it also necessary that the school would be mailing the requirements direct to the nursing board? Bsn diploma, tor and rle records, have them xeroxed and certified true copy by notary public, each page must be certified/signed by the lawyer.. My advice that the words should be "certified true copy of the original document that i have seen" then signed the lawyer.. Who will mail this, i think you, pls ask other forumers who will mail your school papers, is it the school or you.. Ask them..

Also, is highschool diploma still needed? No..

C.) section e: Work history

this means the work experience certificate by the employer right? Then we would still be making our cv or not?

I do not exactly know if you need cv or not, but it wont hurt you if you submit it too (me, i sent "excess" documents but relevant to my application, like cv)..

Also, do you reckon that the board will accept my application though i only have a voluntary experience and not a paid one? =( its okey if you have volunteer experince, no problem.. The key here is that you were a "full time" volunteer, better than not practicing at all... That's the importance of cv becauase you can explain what volunteer nurse is (which is similar to white slavery, dont ya think, im a volunteer nurse too)..

Thanks a bunch!

hope others would answer your questions in more detail.. Good luck..

Specializes in Medical/Communicable Ward.
Recency of Practice ----- generally speaking, as part of the eligibility requirements, your last nursing practice/work should not be more than 5 years ago (double check mo lang kung 5 years pa rin or 3 years na now), meaning if you stop working last June 2005 which is more than 5 years ago, then you do not meet this eligibility.. now the stuff that javRN had discussed are specifics or certain instances as he clearly correctly explained.. me, im just talking about recency of practice in general terms..

as what javRN said, if you have 12 years experience and MSN or PHD all done or obtained here in the philippines, then you have to undergo still the BP.. javRN mentioned exceptions like had worked in UK, etc..

good luck..

Thanks cioman for the added info...goodluck to you too :)

Specializes in MCN.

Thanks cioman94 that was quite informative!

Specializes in Medical, surgical.
Recency of Practice ----- generally speaking, as part of the eligibility requirements, your last nursing practice/work should not be more than 5 years ago (double check mo lang kung 5 years pa rin or 3 years na now), meaning if you stop working last June 2005 which is more than 5 years ago, then you do not meet this eligibility.. now the stuff that javRN had discussed are specifics or certain instances as he clearly correctly explained.. me, im just talking about recency of practice in general terms..

as what javRN said, if you have 12 years experience and MSN or PHD all done or obtained here in the philippines, then you have to undergo still the BP.. javRN mentioned exceptions like had worked in UK, etc..

good luck..

Just to confirm that even you have a doctorate in nursing, you will still need to undergo BP if your preregistration nursing qualification is from a foreign country which is not in the exceptional list.

I have Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate all of which are from Australian Universities. But my preregistration nursing studies was from Pakistan and I now have to undergo BP if I want to get Australian registration. Sometimes back, I could have gone to a challenge test and got my Oz license. But not now.

Hope this sheds some light.

cheers

Specializes in Aged Care.

@nasruasim

Thank you for the confirmation. You are right.:up: To be considered under category (a) as stated previously, the bachelor's, or masters program must be a pre-registration program that leads to registration in nursing here in Australia. There are masters program in nursing offered in Australian universities that do not lead to registration. There is a current list of pre-registration bachelor's and masters programs posted on the AHPRA website.:)

help!!!! do i have to include the 220 overseas assessment fee in my application or just the 115 (Application for general registration) + 115 (Annual fee for general registration)?? :confused:

This is a new case/query.. My opinion: Yes you can use your NBV approval to enrol in a BP school in Sydney/NSW.. forget about your NSW approval if it is incomplete then dont waste time complying it because you already have NBV approval..

I strongly believe in my opinion above.. However, if there other high IQ forumers here who could give better answer then please do so for bekimon's benefit (in that case, just disregard my above answer/opinion, i dont intend to argue my answer in the supreme court)..

good luck, just shoot your questions..

hopefully!, I'll try to call NMB NSW about it, thanks!

@bekimon

hi, welcome to the thread. i think the best that you can do is call The College of Nursing in Burwood NSW, as it's the only program in NSW that offers BP for overseas trained nurses ( the University of Wollongong, used to have the BN for overseas but i can't seem to find the link). The College of Nursing in Burwood requires a letter from the former NMBNSW to be admitted to the program. please ask them if they would consider the NBV letter as you can no longer get an NMBNSW letter because the overseas RN registration matters are now under the AHPRA-NMBA. this has never been tried before. hope they will consider it and it would be nice if you can share with us the outcome. just google " the nursing college burwood nsw" and you will find the contact info. thanks

ok, I will try to call them, I'll update you guys

Specializes in Aged Care.
help!!!! do i have to include the 220 overseas assessment fee in my application or just the 115 (Application for general registration) + 115 (Annual fee for general registration)?? :confused:

Include both payments. If the application will be unsuccessful, only the registration fee will be refunded.

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