Thinking of moving to Australia-

I have worked in both countries, though some time ago.

What I noted about the UK were the very high ratios in the NHS ...I couldn't believe how many p'ts they would give me.

In Australia, I get several ....not tens of p'ts

I have worked in Ireland and Australia. Ratios are a lot better here. In VIC in the acute public sector 1:4 not sure about psych. my wages were lower initally than in Ireland but with the wage cuts there I'm better off out here now. Only a few months of winter in Melbourne then the rest warm-hot-warm!! My hospital actually encourages learning and professional development as opposed to the hospital I worked in Ireland which seemed to begrudge you any study days!

It is far away from home.....I realised how far when i ended up in hospital myself and all I wanted was my daddy at the age of 25 crying cause your daddy is not there seems a bit pathetic but i was SICK! Think I freaked him out as well when I rang and said 'dad I've got meningitis!'.

But all good and just back from a month at home.......however to get that I had to work 11 months full time no holiday to get the time off!

most places seem to do 8 hr shifts so that means 5 days a week I miss long days! However this is only when you are on work visa if you get residency you could cut down.

If I think of anything else I'll post or PM me.

I saw how badly Ireland's economy is still my brother only working part time (he had decided to go to wales to work) 120 temp staff let go at the hospital I worked at and 50 bed closed.

I haven't worked in the UK but have worked with many nurses from the UK who all agree with the first post about better working conditions and lower patient to nurse ratios in australia. A lot of UK nurses end up wanting to stay in Australia but then I have met a few who have become homesick and gone back to the UK.

If you are interested in moving you can often contact the hospital you would like to work at and they can send you information about the area and the hospital. I worked in Sydney at Sydney Childrens which also has an adult hosptial maternity hospital and mental health facilities attached, so if you want information on Sydney just let me know :)

o and it is best to negotiate holiday time before you start as often the holidays can be booked out for a year or longer.

Thank you very much for the info. Unfortunately, I dont know much about the Hospitals around there. If you could send me some more info, I'll be grateful. I am grateful.

This is where i worked and loved the area as its just up the road from the beach and about 15min on the bus to the city.

http://www.sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au/powh/employment.asp

Thank you very much for the info. I find it very enticing and I am begining to psyche myself into the idea of actually moving. if you could tell me the best option to take re: visa statu, I'll be grateful. i would like to know if on a say, 3 year visa, can I extend it. Is it possible to convert such visas to permanent residence? Which of the types of entry is the quickest and less "traumatic" with long-stay( permanent) options. I am begining to get a feel for NSW; thanks to your help. In addition, could you give me a low down on average rental accommodation. I have seen the guest houses but would prefer cheap but appropriate ones. i am sorry to bother you, but if you can, I'll be grateful. Thanks a bunch.

I came over on a working holiday visa for the first year. I travelled around and found a job that I liked and asked the hospital that I liked to sponsor me. I got a 457 long stay business visa which I can stay in the country for 4 years on as long as I work for the hospital that I am working for. If I want to move hospitals I need to find another hospital within 6 weeks that is willing to take over my sponsorship.

I have just personally started to look into permanent residency as the job situation is pretty none exsistant in Ireland.

If you are looking for accommodation look up websites like domain, real estate (which does rentals and shares as well) gumtree flatmate finder etc. You would be best to have an idea what hospital that you are going to work in as in Sydney they can be quite spread out. I lived in Randwick which is up the road from Coogee Beach which has a large Brit and Irish backpacker population and is close to Bondi. But i ended up doing a lot of work in Manly which required a 20 min bus ride, 30min ferry ride and then a 10 min walk up hill (great fun in Jan/Feb in the heat!)

But I am a convert to Melbourne now --maybe cause I wasn't in wild party mode here! DO IT! I came over here on my own. Met people in hostels and had a great time travelling, done agency work in Sydney for 5 months, went bush for 3 months working in a tiny hospital and then realised I wanted to stay and had the whole 457 thing set in stone in 3 weeks! Best of luck!