asmallangrycermet

Block letters means capital letters. It should be ok but if in doubt then get them to fill in another form.

I was told to write "current" on mine for the end date when I was still working in that job. If you have an agency you're going through maybe double check with them.

Read through the University of Northampton booklets and links - they give you a list of skills that may be tested in the exam. Also the Nile resource gives you information towards what will be in the exam.

On mine they put the dates we had been working together.

How exactly does this work? Edited to add: as in, do you go to University of Northampton to find out the standards/pedantics of their marking and train based on that? Or is it general training?

It will be interesting to see what happens if the Brexit goes through. Will the EU nurses be subject to the same registration procedures as commonwealth nurses? Or will the tables turn and we'll suddenly be able to just wander in and pick up a licence? With how long it is taking us all to get registered, maybe it's worth waiting and seeing - what's another year or two, right? *winks*

For the skills: refer to the Royal Marsden book. For patient journey print out the forms from the Nile website and practice filling them out - make up some patient scenarios and practice. In the patient assessment you will assess the patient and fill in the form. Edited to add: for the patient journey you will treat the patient as though they are a real live patient. So do your assessments as though it's all real :-)

Dementia patient buzzes every time someone walks past the room: Call the Foreign Legion!... to this day I'm still torn between reorienting and just agreeing to do it. All of this happened in an open 4 bed bay by the way. Same patient had his bell taken away from him temporarily because he was swinging it around his head and using it to beat the man in the bed next to him (a sitter was assigned to the room)... patient starts calling for help (during handover) in German (confusion plus dementia) whilst sitter is in the toilet with another patient (unbeknownst to me)... run into the room immediately and find another confused patient pooping on the end of his bed... too busy dying from shock and stifled laughter to assist - night shift were in for a treat that night. Ah. Nursing.

Also average work hours in Australia are 40hrs per week. There are part time opportunities and agencies too :-)

Australia is an amazing place to work! I am Australian and worked for 3 years in the public system before moving to the Middle East (WHOLE different kettle of fish there!!!). Why does everyone just think of Sydney and Melbourne? Australia is MASSIVE and there are so many different places with different styles of nursing all over the country. If you're looking for cool weather, beaches and nightlife - go for Sydney. If you're looking for more hipster culture go for Melbourne. If you like tropical weather, amazing beaches and great rate of pay go for Brisbane or the Gold Coast. Queensland Health has a fantastic rate of pay (after 3 years I was on approx $35/hr as base rate + shift benefits). Interested in rural nursing with more autonomy? Try further north and west. There are small towns screaming for qualified staff who work the ED and hospital and do so much more than in a city hospital. There are mining towns, rural cities, metropolitan areas - I'm sure you'll find somewhere to your liking... Queensland is definitely my recommendation though if you want a cruisy lifestyle and affordable living in the city. AHPRA is a nightmare even for those born, raised and educated completely in Australia only. They tried to get me to do an IELTS because my school (that's primary and highschool) didn't specifically say on any certificates that they only taught in English -_- a lot of phone calls, arguments and sobbing down the phone later I finally got my licence the day before I was due to start. Good luck! Try to make sure all of your documents are certified and clear or else the process is horrible.

Ouch!! I hope your appeal goes well! I've been panicking for weeks about the exam haha, the care plans just do my head in... I don't get the purpose of writing a care plan the way they've set their paperwork out (the university of northampton provides a pdf of what the paperwork in the exam is supposed to look like)... I just... I don't understand how this is an accurate representation of nursing ability? At least let us write out the care plans properly if we're going to perform useless tasks *le sigh*.

Haven't heard from my recruiter in over a month. Was asked by someone where my placement was once I'm registered and didn't even realise that we were supposed to have gotten onto the actual hiring stage where they actually look at my documents -_-

Haha it's nice to know that the pain is shared :-) have you done your OSCE yet?

I plan to complain too. I got knocked around by the NMC in general for months because they didn't know the difference between Abu Dhabi and Dubai -_- I haven't decided if I'm more bitter about that or the fact that I come from an English speaking country yet had to do the IELTS. If there's a smoother process for EU countries why is there not one for those within the Commonwealth? Especially one, for example, that speaks the same language and has very similar practices... I've been salty about this for two years (yes, that has been the length of my arduous application) and will be sending a complaint in along with an atlas...

Ah... It's embarrassing to admit but I was definitely a horrible student... I fell into the nursing degree because I had nothing better to do with my time and didn't know what I wanted to do "when I grew up" (yep, not the best start and certainly not fair for anyone who missed out on a position in the course). I was hungover on most of my uni days (never at clinicals though) and certainly not in a particularly interactive mood. I only attended the mandatory hours then immediately went home afterwards. I followed through with the degree because it seemed like a waste of money to just drop out. It wasn't until my final semester of my final year that I suddenly developed a passion/love for nursing. My grades were always fantastic - I averaged high distinctions and my lowest mark was a distinction... But that was a fluke more than anything. Now that I have been an RN for a number of years and preceptored students I cringe when they ask what my student days were like! I'm glad that I changed as a person because of my degree. My behaviour didn't change through anyone attempting to intervene, all it took was a REALLY good clinical (at my university we did 10 weeks straight of clinicals, 40hrs per week, in our final semester) and working with nurses who were knowledgeable, passionate about nursing and all around fantastic people. My only advice to anyone who has painful students in their classes is simply to ignore them. As long as they're not affecting you, there's nothing you can do for/about them except hope that one day they'll see the light and appreciate the degree and profession.