Psych nurse considering Oz?

[Murt]

Hello everyone,

Im a psych nurse (double degree), 5 yrs experience from drug rehab clinics, prisons and at present as a forensic psych nurse.

Im male, 30 yrs old, from Ireland but living and educated in Sweden, 2 kids 10 & 5.

The missus and meself have more or less decided to skip sweden and move home to Ireland but we want a little adventure, a yr or two in either Oz (preferably) or perhaps the US. The better half works as a dr secretary but her education was all about electronic journal systems/staff management/ IT stuff.

Do you think we'd be able to make a living with our two incomes? Im presuming theres lots of work available but is the pay ok? The money isnt the main thing, were not moving to get rich, if we wanted that we'd stay where we are because i have a great wage at the moment.

Were hoping to make a 100% final decision ove rthe next few months and make it a reality by this time next yr.

Id be eternally grateful for any pointers.

/Murt

[nambour51]

Hi Murt. There are lots of variables to be considered. The land of OZ is a big country. (It is quicker to fly to NZ from the East Coast then it is to fly to WA). The cost of living and income varies from state to state. Suggest you narrow down where you would like to go to a couple of options and then start comparing income and cost of living and exploring work availability etc. and consider what sort of climate appeals to you.

[Murt]

Hi Murt. There are lots of variables to be considered. The land of OZ is a big country. (It is quicker to fly to NZ from the East Coast then it is to fly to WA). The cost of living and income varies from state to state. Suggest you narrow down where you would like to go to a couple of options and then start comparing income and cost of living and exploring work availability etc. and consider what sort of climate appeals to you.

I spent much of yesterday trowling throught he 26 pages of Oz threads yesterday so ive come to realise im not the first to come up witht this idea, nor to start a thread about it! Lots of good pointer sin there eitherway.

Sydney seems the natural choice, i know loads of ppl that went there, some are still there. One of my best mates lives in Hobarth so im going to look at that aswell. We wouldnt want a palace, just something half decent, appartment or house, doesnt matter. Child friendly area being the most important, Hobarth might be better in that aspect, in a "small cosy town" sort of way?

Is there much demand for medical secretaries in Oz? Im fairly confident ill get a half decent job, the mrs is more of a worry. Would we be able to go slightly plus income wise in Sydney or Hobarth with a nurse and dr secr income? Weve 2 kids aswell, do schools cost anything? Do psych nurse earn better btw?

Reading through all the other threads has me wondring about agencies or not now aswell. Ive done a lot of agency work in sweden and now all about the pitfalls, (cancellations, forgetting to ring, forgetting i exist!!!). Is there enough work going around to justify taking a risk with an agency.

One last question, prison nurses, do you have these in oz, is there a big demand and do they get paid good. From country to country it seems forensic psych goes from very highly paid to very poorly paid.

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

Here the renumeration is more about ability and knowledge than field. If you can walk into a level 2 position (clinical nurse) here in QLD you would get quite a good deal more. Good news (for you at least) Aust has a real shortage of trained psych nurses so you would stand a good chance of getting a decent job. Medical secretaries - usually in reasonable short supply so also a good chance of a job.

[Murt]

Ive been look ing around for a few days now and i reckon the handiest would be for me to go through an agency.

Anyone got one to reccomend? Prefferably one that does a lot in mental health, forensic psychiarty or substance abuse treatment. Im open to working in large hospitals or small treatment centres.

Ive allready sent off to a few for information but like i said above ive done a lot of agency work and i know the pitfalls so if anyone knows a good reliable one let me know.