Clarissa26

Hi, well I have been in contact with Geneva health so I am sure they operate down here in Australia, since I live in Queensland :) . They have been very helpful so far, I am only in the initial stages of the process, I need to make up hours in paeds and obstetrics before I can even apply. They found a course for me and were very helpful in that way, but thats all I can really contribute, hope it helps a little.

Well here we go again. I was just going to let it go at what Suzanne had said, but I thought I'd better double check with the university, so I called Deakin. Now, apparently the agencys had told them that the courses were accepted, but that wasn't enough for them, so they contacted the registration boards in the USA. Most of them will accept these courses, thats from the uni, not the agency, so I think it's a little more reliable. The hours will be recorded on the transcripts so no worries there. So once again, these courses ARE accepted by the majority of states in the USA. Good news isn't it.

Well, I trained an an EN before completing my RN training, with both being on the ward is always a big step up, but then step from being on the ward as a student to being a nurse on the ward is even bigger. I have to say that having your preceptor introduce himself after 2 weeks is not only crappy but almost illegal, I don't know the exact numbers but they are supposed to be on your ward for a certain amount of time each day, they are the ones assessing you, they have to see you perform every task to be able to pass you on it. I was ready to walk when I did nursing, and I infact did the first time I tried to complete my degree, had a facilitator say I didn't have the interpersonal skills to be a nurse, bugger her I say, because I went back and completed it, and am planning on traveling now, so stick with it. As for your patient that was transferred, you shouldn't have been in charge of anything, you are supposed to be wokring WITH a nurse, shadowing her, doing tasks as you feel capable and confident enough to do that are within your scope, it sounds like they are basically using you as a extra pair of hands and if I was there I'd go nutty, your there to learn, not to do the things they don't have time for or want to do. First thing you need to do is call your course coordinator at the TAFE, tell them what is going on, ask what your roll is suppose to be, ask for a hard copy, give it to your preceptor to give to the ward. It's not your job to tell the nurses there whats going on, they should have been told by your preceptor, but you'll often find they don't get told what your objectives are or your capabilities are. As for pan placement, it'll come, but you always get that odd one out, you think it's all good, then a full bed change comes along. I think your are being to hard on yourself and not hard enough on everyone else. The preceptor needs to pull up their socks, the ward nurses need to stop treating you as the hired help and include you in their day to day work. Now, as for leaving at the ned of the day, it all depends on who is on, what day it is, how busy it is. I have found in nursing that if you can get an early mark, take it because you never know when you'll be stuck there for an hour after your meant to be home or get no lunch, take it and run. I found all my pracs hard, cried on everyone of them when I was training as an enrolled nurse, bit different when I had some experience and did my degree. I think you should keep going, try to get into a different hospital next time, you'll usually find private hospital nurses get flogged a bit more that public, at least thats what my experience is. It would be interesting to know what hospital you are in. Stick in there, just think, it can only get better, thats what I tell myself everyday, hahaha.

I am planning a move to the UK from Australia next year and want to go to the USA after that, I have only one problem. I have to make up theory and practical hours in both paeds and maternity nursing, I am having trouble finding any courses here so was wondering if anyone knows about appropriate courses over there in the UK. Thanks for your help.

I have a collegue who is interested in going in to the military as a registered nurse. He doesn't have a computer and I have been unable to find much information that he wants, he just wants to know a bit about the basic training, how long, what sort of physical training is required that sort of thing. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Well if thats the case I do not think there are any courses here that will cover that because every course I have come across you have to find your own prac placement. I don't know why the company would put nurses on to courses that wouldn't end up letting them work in the states, very strange. As for attending a school in the USA, it just isn't a feasible option for most people, at least not the people I know. I know you need mental health, but it is standard in Australia that you have a compulsory mental health placement, which is why I didn't bother to mention it at all.

Well I was given a phone number by a recruitment agency and I don't think it would be appropriate to give that out here, but if you did a general enquiry email to the school of nursing that should get some results. One warning, it is apparently not accepted in California, so if this is where you hoped to go this wouldn't be enough.

Well good news, Deakin University offer makeup courses in both paeds and maternity, $600 a module, with you needing to do two modules for each area. They make these running three semesters per year. They do cover your indemnity insurance, but you must find your own placement. So hope this helps anyone in the same position as me, :).

Well if only it was that easy, but it's not. It is a requirement to have hours in theory and practical in both obstetrics and paediatrics before you can even be eligible to take the NCLEX, neither of which I have or can find.

I wrote to a Canadian nursing board, if you have a bachelor degree then it is equivilant to the BSN degree in Canada and the USA, assuming the hours for paeds etc are included. So I just have to catch up on those hours and I'm good to go, with any luck.

Just wish I knew for sure if my degree is equivalent to the BSN in Canada and the USA, I have just never been able to find anything on comparing them.

I have changed my plans a little, I have decided to go to the UK at the end of the year for a while, I am sure if I can't find a course here to cover my obstetrics and paeds, I'll find something there. It will also get me acclimatised to the cold as I think I'll got to Canada after that, then the USA if I think it is for me. It is just so frustrating when you really want to go somewhere and it seems something so little could hold you up for ages, but the more people I talk to the more hints they have about the courses so hopefully I'll find something, maybe even before my trip to the UK. To answer your question, I finished my training as an RN last year. We only have 3 year degrees here, no 4 year ones, but that is what I am assuming is accepted in the USA as it is a bachelor of nursing and people have been forom here with that. I am also hoping it is the same for Canada. As I understand it there are a couple of ways to become a registered nurse over in the USA, but we only have the one way, the degree. Thanks for all your comments though, it's good to see different perspectives, some people don't even want to entertain the idea of something other than the status quo so go a bit nuts promoting that. Thanks again

I can't afford to go to the states for a few months without working to get my obstetrics and paediatrics hours, it would take me forever to save up the money needed for not only the courses but also living expenses. I wish I could do it, it would make things easier. We have some agencies advertising for nurses to go to Canada, mostly in BC, but some other places. If places keep making it harder to get into they won't get any nurses to go there from overseas. I understand they want to have quality over quantity, but the harder you make the less people are even going to bother trying, let alone get in.

Well I know a couple of people who are in different private hospital, one in the Wesley and one in Mater Private. The girl in the Wesley is loving it, they have 3 6 month rotations. The girl at the Mater private, well I'm not to sure if she is enjoying it, she just says she's not sure if nursing is for her, but I think that could have something to do with their grad program. She works in every department in the hospital in her first year, and I mean EVERY department. Theatre for a few weeks, ICU a few weeks, ED a couple of weeks, some wards for 6 weeks, some for 9, then they move on. Not a good environment to get comfortable in your first year out, at least thats what I think. Private hospitals also usually run on less staff, at least thats what I have experienced, as have a lot of others, so you might have to work harder there. I prefer to work in Queendland health because you can transfer your annual leave and sick leave if you transfer between hospitals, and there is more support, always a resident or ward call around. I had an experience in one private hospital where a patient had sats of 78%, we had to call after hours nurse manager to get "permission" to call the consultant at home. Then when sats dropped to 55%, we had to call the consultant to get "permission" to get the on call registrar up to the ward. I really prefer to have the security of knowing that theres someone I can just call if I am concerned for a patient, rather than having to get permission. But I could be biased, I have never worked in a private facility on a permanent basis, so it's good to hear from staff who have as well.

Well I have been looking around here and it seems both the USA and Canada have different advantages. One of the big things is the USA is next to impossible for me to get into as I haven't got any obstetrics training and am finding it hard to get the hours I need. Is it really worth me going through lots of money and even more hassle to get to the USA, or should I head to Canada, where it is very very cold, ( I am used to sunny Australia) and your not paid as much? Any opinions.