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Hi, i'm in a similar position, silly as it sounds have a look at the distance learning courses from the university of dundee, although based in the uk the it is recognised by ancc and nlnac, they do both bachelors and masters.

What a comprehensive and informative post, and I bow to your superior skills in searching the internet, I wonder if you would be able to post the details of the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462). Could this be the visa Tyler's recruiter was refering to? I would be grateful to you for teaching me this. Whilst you are at it, could you also teach me some of the benefits and drawbacks of the 457, and the PR visas, with particular emphasis on nurses from the US who wish to work and travel in Australia for about a year. Finally and purely out of curiosity where in Australia did you work and on which particular visa? Your final statement on learning to use the internet instead of relying on the experience of others truly displays your intellectual prowess, I prostrate myself before you:bow:

I think you might be worrying too much about the reference issue, as long as you get two people, if you're a very recent grad it could be a tutor or clinical supervisor, and your current employer, you should have no problems. Think of it this way, if you have an aussie registration, have been succesful at interview and offered a post, passed your police checks and medical for your visa, do you think it likely that your potential employer will revoke the offer of a job because the reference is not on headed notepaper?

Your recruiter does know what they are talking about, if you are under 30 you can get a working tourist visa, which is valid for a year, if you are over 30 you can only work if sponsored or a permanent resident, or citizen.

Brisie has a river (complete with bull sharks) no beach, if you work at sydney childrens you will be a 15 min walk from coogee beach, there is a nice coastal walk from coogee to bondi beach covering some lovely smaller beaches, you can also stay in the hospital accomodation. It costs about $50 a week and is great for meeting people, but it is a little grotty, but what do you expect for $50!

As long as you have registration in oz, and can scrape together a couple of professional references you should have little trouble finding a job, either with an agency or directly through a hospital. I walk past the vacancy board every day on my way to work, there are always pages and pages of jobs.

Sorry you failed, but you obviously have the ability to pass, all the advice given is good, I just wanted to share what worked for me, beg or borrow as many cd-roms as you can get your hands on, regularly do a test of 75 questions, review your results and work on the weaker areas, it's good test practice and often gets you to look at subjects in a different way than if you just read them off a page, anyway keep your chin up, and good luck for next time.

As previously stated I am relaying information gained from colleagues and students I have worked with over the past three years, the most common grumble is too much time in school not enough time in practice. If you disagree then I'm happy for you, but I think you must conceed that not everyone will share your wholey postive experience, and I think it wrong to imply that an Aus bn is a good preparation for practice in the US when you both, in differant ways have said it's not. The point of this post is not to comment on the quality of the training but on it's ease of transition to the US, should the original poster find himself heading home after training, or part way through if he splits from his girlfriend. As such I stand by my original post.

I believe the student in question had stayed on to do honours thus I included the extra year. However it is also possible to do a masters in two years and gain registration, if you already have a first degree. So not all courses are three years. I'm not sure I understand the distinction between practicum and in house clinical blocks, are they both compulsory and a requirement for graduation? The figure of nine weeks came from a colleague I think from WA. It must be a cultural thing, I trained in a country where the training was split 50/50, our final three placements were 16 weeks each, so even your 20 weeks seem 'light' to my narrow mind. By the way I am not suggesting any lack in quality of the home made staff I have worked with here in Oz, however as has been pointed out there are a lot of nurse shortages and this makes giving students a quality experience during their short placements difficult. It also can make it difficult for new grads to get jobs due to lack of experienced mentors, this was widely reported only recently with a large number of new grads being unemployed. It sometimes seems to me as a relativley new arrival that the nurses here are excellent in spite of, not because of the 'system'.

shhh not too loud the japs might hear, might be a bit harder to harpoon than a mother and baby though

Mate if there is any possible way to study in the US then do it, your tuition fees here will be $30,000+, then everything else on top, and honestly you may find that the training is better at home, the average Aus nursing student gets very limited clinical practice, I've worked with students getting 9 weeks total in four years, not very good at all! Also it has to be said, all the guys from the US that I have worked with out here have all gone home again, that has to tell you something!

Some areas in POW offer 12 hour shifts, but none of the surgical wards do (to my knowledge), you could always do agency work, as opposed to working permanently for an agency, if you catch my drift, you may pick up a few 12h shifts a week especially if you can do icu. It's a different system out here and in many ways less flexible and progressive than your used to at home, in my experience very few places offer flexible working etc, if you are only interested in surg wards you will most likely be working 9 hour shifts.

Find the hospital you wish to work in and contact them direct, they will, more than likely be over the moon to hear from you, and bend over backwards to find you the job you want. They will be as practiced in organising visas as any agency, and you will have the confidence of knowing exactly where you will be working. In short there is absolutely no reason to go with an agency at all, and certainly not one that is not giving you what you want! The nurses in Melb have just been on strike due to pay and conditions, and there is a nationwide shortage of nurses. You have a clear idea of where you want to work DO NOT SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS. Melbourne's a nice town I'm sure you will have agreat time:yeah:

In my case the cvs was released to NY in june, I recieved my eligibility to test in august, registered for nclex, and am still waiting for my att. I initially sent my application to NY/CGFNS in october '06, so pushing 15 months and still not taken nclex, and will not find an employer to petition me even if I pass, so will have to endorse to another state anyway. In short international nurses heed my advice, steer well clear of NY. What was I thinking!!!!!:imdbb:

I wish they would scrap it, I have to wait four months to do it in sydney, and although they do'nt 'charge' you for it I don't think it's a coincidence that the application fee doubled at the same time the test came in.

Processing time can be a bit hit and miss, I know people that got theirs through in two weeks, but that was a couple of years ago, I think now it maybe closer to six months, but as with all gov bodies it can be hit and miss. The easiest thing is to see the boss in nursing services when you start, they will organise the paperwork for you, and hopefully, smooth the process for you.

Hi Rach, I know people working in ortho/neuro (I know strange mix), icu and er at sch, they all seem to enjoy it, there is an element of being thrown in at the deep end, but that will happen anywhere, I know that sch is very well funded, and has a high profile, you can't walk through without falling over nicole kikdman, assorted sportsmen etc. It sounds like your worried about missing out on something if you choose one particular hospital over another, relax you wont, either will look good on your c.v. but more importantly give you exposure to a caseload that is diverse, challenging, and not found in every hospital. If you find after six months you do not like it then you move to westmead (or vice versa) no problem. As to support, I don't know but surely thats one of your interview questions;)

Where are you living at the moment? If it's around the cbd area then sch is probably easiest, westmead is a good 45 mins away, and i've heard it is a little rough, but has a decent residence whereas the one for sch is pretty basic but cheap and in a great location, just up the road from coogee, sch has a quality sandwich/snack bar if that helps! I know a couple of guys working at sch, any ideas on speciality?

I find a simple my lord, your highness or simply god is the correct form of address:lol2:

I did it myself for the same reason as you, did'nt want to be stuck in a rotten job and unable to leave and end up visa less. I registered in nsw which took two weeks, then applied for modified skills assessment, again about two weeks, then applied for visa, posted in feb, medical in may, visa in passport first week of july, and have been in oz for nearly two years. Whilst you can go the sponsored route be aware that there have been long delays in getting residency, not surprising really as you are already in the country working! You can also apply for residency before you leave, then go out on a sponsorship/working holiday visa while your PR is being processed, the only problem is that you will have to leave the country the day your PR is granted, but a quick trip to NZ is not really a hardship.

Thanks, that was the post I sent my resume for, nearly two weeks now, still no response, not sure if this is a normal time frame for Canada.

Was wondering if anyone had the gossip on the recruitment of international nurses. I have sent a resume to crha, but have yet to hear anything. I have heard rumours of expedited registration and visas, but I also hear that it's a waste of money to get registered as an foreign trained nurse due to the difficulty of obtaining work in Canada , i'm keen to work in Calgary but do not want to waste hundreds of dollars and lots of time.

as you say you have never been here, I hav'nt worked in the states but all the americans i'v worked with out here in oz have gone home to work, so that must tell you something. I have found the standard of individual nurses to be very good but the overall practice quite backward, ie task oriented, traditionalistic, and medically dominated, we really are expected to be handmaidens. Healthcare in the uk may be a mess, but in my time in a&e there i never saw a patient wait 12 hours plus to see a speciality doctor after being refered, I never saw patients wait 8 hours in reception to be seen after triaging them as cat 3, (yes i did point this out to the consultant, he thought it was someone elses problem). I also never saw patients sat in the dept with flowers and cards round their bed because they had been there for 4 days and still no sign of a bed on the ward. Outside of work the cost of living is not dramatically less than the uk but the quality of goods and services is poor. And while at the moment the states are protecting nurses from the impact of the new IR laws you can expect that to change after howard is re-elected next year, and if you think it wont happen to nurses, it already is in areas like nursing homes etc. Rant over, its just my opinion and will probably be dismissed as that of a whingeing pom.

suggest you use google, all the info you seek is readily available from the immigration web site of the country you want to go to, and from the health authority you want to work for, you are being a bit too general with your question, you should really research at least which country you wish to work in.

A fine point! surely teamwork is the key, and valuing each persons contribution, regardless of job title. These power fiends that try to elevate themselves by dumping on others really pee me off, i hated bullies at school and i hate them in the workplace, and thats all these people are, bullies and unprofessional to boot. i always feel that if a student had a poor experience with me it would be more a comment on my proffessionalism and enthusiasm as a nurse, than on the ability of the student. As a wise man once said 'there is no such thing as a bad worker just bad leaders'.