UK Psych Nurse coming to Melbourne

[Catcher]

I only just found out there is no mental health only nurses anymore in Australia. It seems like you just elect to do that speciality in a year of uni? Have I understood that correctly?

Would anyone know how easy it will be for me to get a job in mental health in Melbourne and what sort of wage I could expect? Any suggestions of where to look for jobs would be welcome. I have just applied to get registered with the ANMC.

I am a qualified psychiatric nurse. I have a post graduate advanced diploma in mental health nursing and a Masters in Medical Science. I have 3 years post qualifying experience. Any advice at all would be appreciated

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Moved to the Australian forum

[ceridwyn]

I am sure you would be welcome with open arms.

You are correct that to become a 'mental health' nurse, you complete a general nurse degree first then do a grad dip in mental health to become specialised but in victoria there are nurse divisions you can be a Div 1 with restriction (can't do general) or Division 3 which is mental health nurses only...think I am correct that you would register as Div 1 with restriction not sure if they still register directly into Division 3.

So to become a mental health nurse these days you would do your BNurs, then get your grad dip and be registered as a Division 1 endorsed as a psych nurse... here is our nurses link for Victoria, hope this makes sense...

As for the money depends what job you get, case manager etc, I'm not sure were you would find out exactly. Usually the union has a members site were we go directly to find out the latest wages, I would expect thought with your quals you would be looking for well over A$30.00 an hour

http://www.nbv.org.au

cheers

[mental health nurse]

Hi

There are loads of positions for mental health nurses, and you should easily find a similar position to the one you're currently in.

You have to apply to the board for the state you want to work in, the ANMC is for migration purposes, although this is due to change. Hopefully they will become a national board next year.

Unfortunately there has not been a psychiatric/mental health nurse training scheme for many years and this has meant that many area's of the service have become medically oriented.

Your pay will depend obviously on your position but also your employer, as there are different perks in different area's etc, and there are a lot of private hospitals that are reportedly good to work for.

I would strongly recommend that you obtain a position independently as this will allow you to have good choice of area's (work and home) rather than an agency that will be looking to fill positions that are hard to fill (for obvious reason's).

If you let me know what area (work & home) you are looking for I will post some links.

Good Luck

[noromyxo]

I work in Mental Health and my partner is a UK trained RMN. She is registered and earns between $48 and $70 per hour with an Agency.

You should have no trouble in getting work. Just dont sign a two year work visa contract with a hospital. This will tie you down and you are likely to be put into a position that you would not enjoy.

The experience in South Australia with UK imports who take contracts, is they they start at the bottom again and usually end up in somewhere they do not enjoy. Far better just to migrate and have the freedom to move as you wish.