New international nurse endorsement requirements

[greyL]

I'm a US trained nurse that has been considering working in Australia for some time now. I have a little over 1 year of experience.

I wish I had applied earlier because it looks like the requirements have become really strict. It states that I need 800 hours of workplace experience exclusive of a simulated environment. I am assuming that work place experience means direct patient care. Can anyone verify if that's accurate?

The problem now is that I'm not sure if my school program provided that much. I went to school in California, and California requires 810 clinical hours with only 75% of that needing to be in a direct patient care setting. My program provided us with 855 clinical hours, but some of it was in a simulated environment, so I'm not sure if I meet the criteria.

Does that mean I will have to go to a bridging program?

[louieartist]

Hello greyL, You could email the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation at www.anmf.org.au and ask them if what you have done if enough or if not what you would need to do.

Cheers, Louieartist

[ceridwyn]

The ANMF, the Australian Nursing, Midwifery Federation is the union no membership no advice and in reality would not know the ins and out of the nursing curriculum.

You will have to apply to AHPRA who assess and register nurses, (Australian Health Professionals Regulation Authority) . Then you will have to see if you qualify for a visa. Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection

[sunshinerainbows]

I am in the same boat. I haven't started my program yet but I have to decide by Wednesday. One program has under 800 clinical hours. One program has over 800 clinical hours (non-simulated). But the one with more clinical hours is a much longer program and much further away from my house.

Did you ever find out the answer to your question? I remember a post about a US person who wanted to go to the UK. She had a lot of trouble at first because the way credit hours are counted in the US is different then the way credit hours are counted in the UK. In the end, her school recounted her hours according to the method in the UK, and she had enough hours.