UK to Adelaide

xman · Nov 23, 2005

Hello,

Not quite sure where to start but congratulations on deciding to choose Adelaide. I may be biased because I was born here but as far as lifestyle goes you can’t get much more relaxed than Adelaide. I’ve lived in or traveled to every Australian city and as far as raising a family goes you can’t get a better place. Everywhere else in Australia takes the p**s out of Adelaide because they recon it’s like a big country town but it depends what your looking for. I lived in London and traveled the UK and Europe for 3 years and I suppose you could describe Adelaide as being a bit like Cornwall but with different flora and fauna, throw in a bit of south of France (wineries) and a mediterranean climate and that’s about it. In summer the crickets on TV all the time and winter Australian rules football. You can still watch a bit of premier league highlights on SBS free to air TV but it’s nothing like Europe. The summers are hot and we can have heat waves that last 10 + days over 36 degrees so I hope you like the heat.

As far as working goes I have only just completed my 2yr of Bachelor of Nursing degree but many of my friends are RN’s and they all appear happy in there working environments. Personally I am currently working as a personal care worker for an agency and get sent to private hospitals and nursing homes. I prefer public hospitals myself. Like the world over our health care system needs more government funding and there is a current shortage of Nurses which the South Australian government is addressing by making more university places available. Of the top of my head I think the average age of nurses is 42 and males in nursing is about 6% but growing steadily. At my Uni we have about 70 blokes (out of 500 students) with the majority of us in our 30s or late 20s.

Check out this link http://www.sacentral.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm

With two RN’s in the family you will be able to afford a decent house, if you want to buy. The cheapest houses are around $170 000 but that’s not in the best of areas so you can probably expect to pay $240 000+

Check out this link for houses http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=sf&s=sa&t=res&snf=rbs

Basically in Adelaide you have the big 4 public hospitals

North: Lyell McEwin http://www.lmhsadelaide.sa.gov.au/

West: Queen Elizabeth http://www.lmhsadelaide.sa.gov.au/

East: Modbury Hospital http://www.mhfoundation.austbiz.net/html/modburyhospital.html

And finally south, my area: Flinders Medical center http://www.flinders.sa.gov.au/

That’s about it. Hope this helps. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Grace Oz · Nov 24, 2005

Correction xman ...with respect, of course.

MODBURY Hospital is actually NORTH EAST. :-)

But.... my advice? Stay the hell away from that place!

Excellent info, BTW. :-)

xman · Nov 28, 2005

Your right Grace, i stand corrected. Funny you say that about Modbury, it's the second time i've heard that this month. That's enough evidence for me!!

xspikex · Nov 28, 2005

hey ya all....

i am an rn in adelaide...agency nurse at the moment and have been for the last few years.....i have also worked as an rn in london for 2 years....What speciality are you into or wanting to get into?.....

ukandy · Dec 1, 2005

Thanks xman & you all for the info !

Do you know if hopitals are family friendly ? ie do they allow part time hours to fit round school hours or does it vary ?

My wife is a theatre nurse & would like hours to fit around the children

I'm a cardiac rehabilitation nurse & I dont know if I would be able to find employment in this field. I dont know if rehab is organised differently. However, before doing this role, I was a registered Health Visitor (however I dont think this is transferable either ! But I might be wrong ! Most of my general nursing has been in coronary care/intensive care, but I also have registered nurse experience in recovery & accident/emergency. Therefore, I dont know if it might be difficult to find employment. I dont know if others have similiar experience & found employment ?

Cheers Andy