Travel to Australia.. anyone work there?

[LadyNASDAQ]

Ho to all. I am considering doing some travel out of Country and I think I'd enjoy going to Australia. I have a lot of friends online who would even help me once I'm out there. Here in the States I'm at day shifter all the way. Just can't tolerate night shifts. I get sick and I know this would be an imposibility here but realized I don't have a problem working either in AU or NZ because they're pretty much on the other side of the clock lol. I know, I know it's cheating but after working in Nursing 29 years and trying 3 different times to work night shift and #3 attempt was the worst ever, I know I can only do night shift as long as I don't flip my cascadian rhythm over lol.

Curious if anyone has worked in AU or even lived there or vacationed there.

[suzanne4, RN]

Moved your thread to the International Forum where you will get more responses to your question.

[LadyNASDAQ]

Thank you Suzanne!

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

I'm Australian and working in the US.

I hope you mean "circadian" rhythm.

Doesn't really hold true that nights won't bother you in Australia because it's the opposite of the US. The disturbance is generally caused by working opposite to daylight hours wherever you are living, so it would still upset you I would imagine.

[LadyNASDAQ]

Yes I stand corrected with the wording I used lol.

My problen is just with the clock hours. I think I would enjoy working Internationally. I have Aussie friends online that are so nice. I've learned a lot about the culture, the people and the areas and would enjoy working Internationally.

Can you tell me about the hospital equipment and charting? Anything similar to what we do and have? I work ICU.

Thanks!

Stacy

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

Depends what you have and do where you are... Most places in ICU in Australia still have paper charting. Similar equipment between the countries (ventilators, monitors etc). A big difference is in australia, you do everything - no techs to do tasks for you.

[NurseJewels]

I recently accepted a position in Aus. The manager explained that there is no "permanent" night shift like we have in the states, everyone takes their turn on a rotating roster every 6-8 weeks or so. Shifts are also 8 hours rather than 12. It was the same with 2 other hospitals I interviewed with. I dont know if all units/hospitals in all cities in Aus are similar to this, but just thought I would let you know what I found when interviewing and researching :)

[Djuna]

Australia is a big country and each state has health boards, so you will find a difference in all kinds of things between these different health boards. There are even some different ways of doing things between hospitals in the very same health board.

I work in a rural hospital and I did 12 hour shifts in Paediatrics and management have recently introduced 12 hour shifts for one of the staff members in ED where I currently work.

In all areas of this hospital there are permanent night shifts staff, however there is a clause in the contract stating they must work one month on days (or 2 weeks), something like that anyway. Night shift by the way is 10 hours which I believe is normal for many hospitals here.

Almost everyone gets to do nights though at some stage of the roster. The worst aspect of our rostering system is the constant changing from days to afternoons then maybe a couple of nights. It's very disruptive to the body and I have found it more difficult to bounce back the older I get. I have requested to do all afternoon shifts for the past couple of rosters and my Nursing Manager was more than happy to do this for me.

Best of luck in your new adventure.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

Almost every ICU I worked in in Australia has 12 hours shifts and permanent night shift on offer. I did 12 hr nights for 4 years.. plenty long enough!!