US Labor and Delivery Nurse wants to migrate to AU

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I am looking for opinions esp. from an AU midwife. I'm a registered nurse in the US. I have 10 years of Labor and Delivery (OB) experience and 5 years of med/surg (general medical and post surgical areas.) My husband and I are looking into moving to AU. This will be a 5+ year plan. I want to continue to in the OB field. I have noticed that in AU Labor nurses are not a thing. I will be willing to work Med/surge and complete a Midwifery program if needed in AU.

My question is what education would be best to seek for this. I have a ADN which is a 2 years degree in Nursing. It would be possible to complete a BSN, a 4 year degree prior to moving. But then I would still need a bridge type of program to be a Midwife. We do have Midwife programs in the US, a Masters Program, but I would prefer to study within the Health Care System in which I would practice. I do not believe the responsibilities and standards of practice are the same in both countries.

Looking forward to getting feedback. I have looked into Midwifery Schools in AU online but can not find much information on a Bridge type program.

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Hello

There aren't bridging programs for foreign-trained midwives like there are for foreign trained nurses.

Contact the Nursing & Midwifery Board and see if they recognise your ADN. (the basic requirements are that the course content needs to be equivalent to a Bachelors in Australia, and that you have completed a minimum of 800 hours of clinical placement during your training). If your ADN is not recognised then you will need to do a BDN.

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Meeting the registration requirements

many midwifery programs in Australia are not open to international students, so research where you are wanting to more and what universoty programs there are.

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I think you would have to apply for a Graduate Diploma in Midwifery which is generally 18 months.

If they are to recognise your RN degree which I am sure they will as they generally look for 800 clinical hours according to AHPRA.

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