nephron19

I realise the original post was from back in November, but just wondering how you went? Hopefully you are here in Australia now! I am an American nurse and have been in Australia for a few years now. Back when I was doing my AHPRA registration I remember it was mostly a matter of getting all my ducks in a row. My dean of my nursing school was extremely helpful and luckily my uni had archives of all the syllabi online so I could easily document my clinical hours of each course. My only hiccup was with notarising documents as the process is different for certifying copies for Australia. All my documents were rejected the first time round because they didn't each have "I have sighted the original document and certify this is a true copy of the original" on each page. Very frustrating. it was a stressful period and I hated having things up in the air but it's happy days now and I'm here working in Sydney. As another poster mentioned agency Work is easy to come by, at least here in Sydney. Happy to answer any questions you may have

Anyone have any experience with different nursing agencies serving the northern beaches in Sydney? Which to avoid and which are OK? Anyone work with Nursing Australia or Pulse?

At my hospital we wear skirts/dress slacks/knee-length shorts with collared short sleeve dress shirts. No caps

I think there are a lot of factors to finding a job in Australia, just like in the US. It depends on your specialty, experience, and where you want to live. I have a work holiday visa and found a six month contract pretty quickly. This probably was helped by the fact that the hospital doesn't have to pay for my visa at all and because I have 4 years in my specialty. Try searching these sites for jobs and seeing whats out there: seek, adzuna, indeed, and hays. You can set up alerts on those sites that send daily job listings to your email. I am in a rural area which probably helped. I imagine Melbourne and Sydney get a lot more migrants than Tasi...

Thanks for the info! Anyone have experience with International Healthcare Resourcing? They have an office in London and one in Sydney. I'm trying to work with them for a position and they seem a bit hard to get ahold of. Wondering how reliable they are?

Anyone have any experience with agency nursing or nursing at all in Tasi? Thanks!

Hi all! for anyone out there in Australia on a 462 work holiday visa- what agency did you get your insurance through? I'm blindly searching google... anyone know of cheap and reliable plans? thanks!

I have days when I just want to cry because i feel up to my ears in poop but unfortunately that's just the way nursing goes. Just wear an isolation gown, gloves, and a mask and try not to think about it. usually if I can bring in a co-worker to help me with my incontinent patients and I'll help her with hers it goes faster and we can squeeze a few laughs in. makes it much more bearable.

I have a question about notarizing documents. Did you all notarize every sheet you sent in or just the pages that contain signatures? I have over 50 pages to send in and at $5/page thats quite expensive!

Hi everyone! I submitted my application back in March and just got an email from the AHPRA that I am missing a few things. I have a few questions if someone could help me out! 1) Professional references- did you get references from ALL previous employers or just most recent? The nurse manager from my first nursing job retired and the hospital restructed since I left so I am unsure how to proceed. 2) Continued education- it says "You are required to provide evidence of any continuing professional development you have undertaken, specifically in the past 12 months. This will assist the Board in determining whether you meet the Standard - Nursing and Midwifery Continuing Professional Development Registration Standard" on that link it says you need 20 CEUs/year. Do I have to submit proof of 20 CEUs to get my license? 3) The notary I used just stamped my documents with a seal and I thought that was sufficient (I've never had something notarized before!) but the documents must contain an original signature so I have to recopy and renotarized everything...just a tip for everyone out that who applies in the future- make sure it is properly signed!

Has any US nurse on here stayed longer than the 1 year working holiday visa? Just wondering how difficult it is to get a skilled migration visa or employer-sponsored? Or maybe going back to school there and getting one that way?

Thank you all so much for answering all my questions! I have another one though lol: do you have health insurance while you are there? It asks you on the visa application and I'm wondering if you got a plan for your travels?

I was also wondering how easy it is to transfer licenses between states? So if I get my license thru the Victoria office but end up in Sydney would it be difficult to transfer it over or vice versa? I'm not sure where I will be living but want to get the ball rolling with my paperwork.

Hi everyone, Has the market changed for any of you? Just wondering the current situation with agency nursing in Melbourne.

Bama, Just wondering how long ago you completed your registration?

NGOabroad: International Careers & Volunteering, Home I did not travel with them myself but a friend did and had a very positive experience.

Can anyone shed some light on the Melbourne vs. Sydney markets currently? Specifically if I am a foreign nurse with a 1 year working visa? From the sounds of it the market in general is grim but just wondering if agency work is still readily available?

I agree I would have held them.

Tilde- Hi yes! I need to post a few more times so I can PM you and we can chat lol!

Hi all! this is so overwhelming! I have a few questions, hopefully someone can help! 1) for verifying id- did you just attach a notarized copy of your passport? the rest of the verification will be in person later on correct? did you attach a copy of your driver's license or some secondary id? 2) What did you attach as section c (qualification for profession)? Transcripts/academic history is asked for separately in the english verification section-does it count here again or is there another document? Did you just attach a copy of your diploma? I'm confused if I need separate documents for everything or if things can count for 2 sections thank you all so much!

So when applying for my nursing license I have to go in person to the NSW office? I'm a bit confused because other boards suggested starting with the license because it takes longer and then getting the visa. How have other people done this? Flown over and back while applying before you actually move? That seems quite pricey and from me 25 hours worth of flights! I am trying to move to Sydney this year. I'd love to hear other people's experience with this.

Wow, this thread is so informative! I am an RN with 3 years of med/surg/stepdown experience. I would like to relocate to either Sydney or Melbourne sometime in 2013. This process seems really intense, I am a bit overwhelmed. I'm researching everything right now and from the sounds of it I should start with my AHPRA application. I'm sure I will have lots of questions as I get started on this process but I'm glad I've found over people who are trying to figure this all out!

Hi Julianna.00- I cannot figure out how to PM you but was wondering if you could answer some questions I have about moving to Oz! thanks!

I have been in contact w/ HZ agency about a position at King Faisal hospital in Riyadh. I am seriously considering going for this. I am excited to hear that you can crosstrain different units...I have wanted to transition to SICU for a while, but it is difficult to do so at my current hospital (and I'm worried I'll get there and not like it). Californianurse, I am trying to PM you, but can't figure it out (I'm new to this website). What unit do you work on? Are you at king faisal hospital? thanks for all the info! nephron

I also worked in Detroit and had many Canadian co-workers who commuted across the border every day. Each state needs its own license (besides compact states-which michigan is not). Keep in mind that if you practice in different states and have multiple licenses you will need to keep up w/ these in terms of paying to renew, different CEU requirements, etc.