UStoOz

@Rachi321 - It's good. It took me about a month and a half, but I did find a job. It's a lot different and a bit of a learning curve, but I am loving the experience. How is your process going? You're still not here in Australia I assume?

Thank you Rachi! I just arrived 2 days ago, so I have been spending most of my time figuring things out, getting situated, etc. Today I plan on clamping down. I have a few people helping me find work, and I have also been looking myself, so hopefully something will happen soon! How about you? Did you get your eligibility letter yet?

Got my visa, leaving for Brisbane August 17th :) In case anyone wanted to know! Now I just need to find a job fairly soon so I can survive over there.

@ Rachi - It never hurts to call/e-mail, but in the whole process I never really got responses and was on hold for at least 30 minutes when I called. Give it another week, then call. They are very slow with processing things over there, so I guess us Americans are just going to have to learn to be REALLY patient. I applied for my Work & Holiday visa on July 5th, received the e-mail telling me what I need on July 11th, they received my Medical exam (and everything else they were asking for) on July 30th and still haven't heard anything. So much for 3 week processing on my visa Guess I will have to just extend my notice at work a bit. @mernurse - yes, that is the appropriate application. That whole process to get your license over there seems to be taking about 4-5 months, so I would get on that as soon as you can. I think that is just about all the help I can be in regards to your questions. I'm not too sure about salary and if they hire in postpartum. Good luck!

Ok, new question. Do Aussie nurses wear their own scrubs, or do the hospitals provide/require a certain type of scrubs? I am debating whether I should give mine away or not. I don't want to waste packing space if I won't even be allowed to wear them over there. Also, is CPR the same over there as in America? I am due to renew my CPR soon and was wondering if I should even bother since I will be leaving.

Mcademia - I heard! They are actually promoting (is that the correct word) me over there, so we will see. I think I can handle an hour commute. I've never had to do that, so it will be a good learning experience. Hopefully I can do 10 hour shifts or something so I won't have to commute 5 days a week. Thank you for the insight :)

@ceridwyn - I really appreciate your input here. I appreciate your honesty. I want to know as much as I can before I get over there so that I don't have any false hope or too high of expectations. You are very helpful! Any advise is welcome!

@Mcadamia - Thank you! I actually put in my Expression of Interest with Queensland Health and they have been SO helpful, I am very grateful for that. But I will take your advise and put out my CV on my own as well. Job hunting is hard overseas! @Rachi - I am very close with my manager at work, and she has been aware of every step of this process, so it wasn't hard to say, "Okay, now it's REALLY happening." Usually they are very understanding and sad to see you go, at least in my experience. I'm not sure what it's like where you work. Also, I put in my notice for a month from now, and they told me that if I needed an extension for any reason that would be just fine. So I'm not too worried about that part of it. I just want to give them enough time to find someone to fill my spot.

Rachi, I am sorry I couldn't figure out how to email you back, otherwise I would have responded. So to answer your question here, I heard back pretty quickly after I sent in the last piece. Usually a few days to a week after they receive it they notify you. As for the questions in the email, I must have deleted it, would you remind me of the questions you asked. I think you asked about when I plan to move. I was hoping to move soon after I was approved by AHPRA (back in May), but I haven't had much luck finding work over the internet. I got tired of waiting in order to get an employer sponsored visa, so I applied for the Work and Holiday visa. It allows you to stay for up to 1 year and work, but you can only work for 6 months at any one location. I am hoping that I can find a job with this visa and then maybe find sponsorship for a longer visa once I am in the system. I just applied for this visa last week, and I am planning to move end of August, just to give the visa enough time to process. I have to put in notice at work and what not. Hope this helps!

Wow! Thank you all for that information. I was actually expecting that information. I would love to work in med-surg/ER/OR to gain the medical experience. I have always wanted to become a little more comfortable with general medical nursing, especially since pregnancy can be more complex than one thinks as it affects all of our systems. So I will start looking in those areas. Any recommendations of hospitals in Brisbane? I seem to be finding that most places like to feed new grads into med-surg, so they don't tend to hire overseas nurses, is that correct? And also, as I've been looking into ER or OR, they tend to want someone with a few years experience in ER or OR. Do you think that they would accept me with only maternity experience, even though I've been a nurse for 3 years? The reason I am pretty specific about Brisbane is because I have some friends there. They are the reason I am relocating to Australia, and whom I intend to move in with. Otherwise I would be a nurse anywhere they needed me! :) I agree, obstetric nurses do tend to "hold there noses up" to other nurses. But you are absolutely right. There is definitely some tunnel vision there.

Yes, the dean. I contacted the "front desk" at my nursing school and she facilitated it all. She even emailed me a copy to have for my records. It was very nice.

I've definitely been in your shoes! Waiting for that thing was torture. But now that I have it, it seems silly that I worried so much. Now my worrying is about finding a job. It's always something :) Nope, secondary education is High School. I went to my HS and said "I need a letter saying that you taught and assessed me in English" and they made me one, after a little explanation of course. But make sure you get the Principal or similar to make the letter, because the first one I got was just from one of the school counselors and they didn't like that one. My University made me a letter without hesitation and they also attached a course listing with full course descriptions as well as theory/clinical hours for each course. You need to have that too, if you don't already.

@ghillbert - I just assumed that information actually :) I have been researching it online and have found that only midwives work in obstetrics. But if there are positions available for RN's, I would feel much better. I have actually been communicating with Plexus, a nurse recruitment agency, about finding a job. I haven't really heard much from them, and it's making me quite anxious because it's almost like "my life is in their hands" and they aren't letting me know how it's going. So I took it upon myself to apply somewhere. I have only applied to Mater hospital, and they sent me an e-mail within a few days saying they were unable to offer me a position. I was a little discouraged by this, but that's why I decided to come post on here to get a little feedback. I am definitely willing to jump into another branch of nursing, I would love to enhance my skills, but I am just not sure if anyone would hire me and also sponsor my visa if I don't have experience in say ER, or Critical Care. What do you think? Should I stick with the agency and wait it out, or branch off on my own? @Rachi321 - It took a LONG time. I sent my registration mid-January of this year with the quickest postage I could buy. About 1 week later they e-mailed me saying this: "AHPRA acknowledges receipt of your application for registration. The application is currently being assessed and you will be notified if any further information is required. Once your application has been assessed and processed you will be advised of the outcome." I didn't hear anything from them, even though I e-mailed them once or twice, until beginning of April requesting payment authorization because I had apparently allotted the wrong amount for that. I sent that form scanned into the computer via e-mail as well as sent a copy in post and he e-mailed me back 1 week later saying "We have received payment. Your application will be allocated to a case manager." The next day I received an email stating that they were doing a preliminary assessment and asked me to provide a few further documents. Then there was some more back and forth between us about things I was missing, I provided them, and then finally received my eligibility letter in mid-May. So don't be discouraged, they just take a while to actually get to your application. As long as you were very thorough, it should go quick once they start the assessment. But I had not sent in a letter from my secondary school saying I was taught and assessed in English, as well as a few other odds and ends that were easy to retrieve, so it took me a bit longer. I hope that helps! I actually followed the thread about AHPRA on here religiously, desperate for new developments, but all the advise I can give you is to be patient. Your time will come :)

I am an RN in the US, Washington State specifically, and I have been in the process of moving to Brisbane. I received eligibility from AHPRA, so now all I need is a job and a visa. I plan on staying in Oz around 2 years, potentially longer. I have a very open mind :) I have 3 years total experience, 2 years in Post-Partum, and Labor and Delivery, as well as 1 year in an OBGYN office. To my understanding, there aren't RN's in the field of obstetrics in Australia, correct? Will the fact that I only have experience in obstetrics hinder my ability to find a job in Australia? I am very open minded, as I said, and I am willing to work in any field of nursing that will have me. Also, is it possible to get a Working Holiday visa just to get over there, and then apply for an employer sponsored visa once I am there? I just feel that it might be a little easier to find a job if I am physically there. Any answers or advise is greatly appreciated, as I have been in this process since December and really want to get down there as soon as possible. Thanks!