Mcadamia

We may be looking at doing a second Grad year here specialising in Rural and Remote but it won't be for the faint hearted!!

At the moment I would think about 5 times before doing a bridging course in any event. We just got 16 applicants for one position and looked at the Australians first - because that is the rule here

Okay - for a start DON'T look down on aged care - if you want to ladder climb it is actually easier to do in aged care than about anywhere else Now as for rural My standard warning DO NOT APPLY FOR ANYTHING WITH RURAL AND REMOTE IN THE DESCRIPTION IF YOU ARE FROM OVERSEAS Some of our rural and remote is VERY remote - in my district we have one hospital located on an island where the only access is by either Barge or air flight (beautiful place but one of the more remote local hospitals anywhere) four "single nurse" stations where you are the ONLY medically trained personnel for hundreds of kilometres (and yes I do mean hundreds of kilometres) Other facilities are often just covered by one RN and one EEN per shift and those two people have to cope with whatever comes in the door as well as patients in the ward Having said all of that you might do well to apply to some of the larger regional hospitals like Broken Hill, Katherine, Alice Springs, Mount Isa and the like. They are all big enough to allow you to work with more senior staff and they are usually have medical cover 24/7

The more post-graduate experience you have the more likely you are to get a job here - but remember do not apply for "rural and remote" unless the hospital is over 20 beds minimum

Sorry but do NOT repeat DO NOT accept ANY position at any hospital less than 20 beds because you have NO idea how remote some of our rural hospitals are - and now you are often required to have added competencies such as immunisation and RIPERN for Queensland rural and remote sites. The smaller country hospitals will often just have one RN and an EN or EEN on duty - which leaves you unsupported with issues such as legislation relating to pharmacy and dispensing of medications. This might give you insight http://www.health.qld.gov.au/cunninghamcentre/html/n-ulinks.asp However if you are wanting the challenge of rural and remote look to some of the districts like Cairns or Townsville or Rockhampton and Mackay - they all have "Base" hospitals where you can get acclimatised to Queensland health before being thrown in the deep end.

A little insight from an insider - Gold Coast hospital is about to double in size so it is worthwhile throwing your hat in that direction. Not Brisbane but within driving distance at least (well by Aussie standards but don't listen to me too hard on that score I am currently in "The Isa" and we consider anything within 500 kilometres within a days drive;)

:DWe have job vacancies:D Just apply to Queensland Health "work for us" and be prepared to hassle the daylights out of them. They are ssssllllooooowwww and seem to work better under a bit of pressure - but please do NOT rely on them and do send out your CV's and enquiries independently.

DON'T turn your nose up at aged care - as someone with nigh on 30 years experience in ICU I am STILL cleaning the same old !@#!@ while many of my contemporaries who chose the aged care field are working as Directors of Nursing!! You actually can have a better career path in aged care than in the acute sector. Your other option of course is simply to "go country" for about 3-6 months if that is an option for you. See Australia!! Most rural hospitals are screaming for EN's and will joyfully employ them. You will have better opportunities and some fabulous experiences

Answer - Queensland (OK so I am a Queensland nut - that is why I chose Mcadamia as a name) But not to put the other states down but Queensland has a whole swathe of "transition to practice" programs designed to take the new beginner in a speciality area through to competence. The transition programs are free to Qld health employees and are worth half a graduate certificate (which is a saving of around $2000)

The one issue that absolutely floored me when I first worked here was the treatment for the floridly acutely paranoid patient. They 'tube them, sedate and ventilate before they fly them out. Apparently that rule came about after one patient tried to open the doors of the aircraft as they were flying out

That could explain why we are inundated!! But I do know we will sponsor staff - AND provide free accommodation or rental assistance - actually the whole package is pretty attractive AND there is always the option of doing more rural and remote while you are up here if you wish, AFTER you have your sea-legs of course!!

Okay you can get free accommodation at any of the rural and remote hospitals BUT most will be too small for you, if you are from overseas, but mine is an 83 bed hospital constantly looking for staff Trouble is - if you think you are isolated in Adelaide then we are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more isolated:clown: The camping here is a blast though!

Okay - a bit of fun with some real questions behind it. I would love to find out who between us has the most remote facilities. My next nearest ICU from the one where I work is 665 kilometres but we normally fly out to the nearest ICU within the state which is 903 kilometres away (It is also a far bigger ICU) To get to the capital city is 1,500 kilometres So, I would be fascinated to find out if anyone works in any facility as remote as ours and if so, how do YOU overcome the distance

Usually the ratio's are 1:1 with occasional units running 1:2 during meal breaks - but be aware we use a LOT less chemical restraint than apparently is used in the USA and some unit do not use, or rarely use physical restraints. I work rural and remote so we mostly fly our vented patients out anywhere between 2 - 48 hours after intubation although that is weather dependent. We have between 2- 3 people on per shift for 5 patients (HDU/CCU) most commonly and will call extra in if there are ventilated patients - but even on that level it can be crazy busy!! (I think one of our craziest mornings was just two of us with an unstable ventilated patient that was SUPPOSED to fly out within an hour - four hours later when we STILL could not get a second line into her (VERY obese) RFDS put in two Intraosseous and flew her out that way We are even more independent than many of the bigger hospitals simply from scarce medical cover - but it is challenging and often fun!!

Hmmmm - the other have given you VERY good advice. The only other limit would be if you have a chronic disease - they may deny you immigration at least. I do not think age is a limit working here because we have a bog load of Kiwis (New Zealanders) working over here who are very much the wrong side of fifty and are proud of it! (What is it with Kiwis and partying - now THAT is a country that just loves life) I will keep saying this - I KNOW my hospital helps people to come out and we are always looking for ICU staff. We will give you accommodation (which is limited unfortunately) and the "Rural and Remote Incentive Package" is VERY good and lucrative! (OKAY mods I am sort of recruiting but it is not for me! We are chronically short staffed because there just is not enough people to come THIS far out of the main populated areas) Mind you when you come out here you better like camping and want to explore because we have some of the BEST country!!