US New grad moving to Australia

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Hey All!

Well, I need any advice that can be given.

I am currently in nursing school in the States and I'll graduate in May 2012. My family is moving

to Australia in 2011. So I need any advice from Australian nurses, or any American nurse that's had to make the move. I do have sites and links on actually moving there, but I don't know much about Australian nursing or how a US degree transfers/compares. Can anyone share some insight?

PM me or respond here if you can!

Thanks for your time!

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Oh! and I'll be moving to the Queensland/Brisbane area! My family will be looking into hospitals for me when they go in January. But other than that any advice is appreciated!

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Specializes in Surgical, quality,management.

check out the nursing board at http://www.AHPRA.com.au

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Specializes in Medical.

Yes the AHPRA website is a good place to start. You don't have to take any nursing exams or anything like that. You will have to apply for your division 1 nursing registration through AHPRA which you will have to prove that you meet the educational requirements and provide info on your nursing licenses in the States. It's not too difficult but you have to be meticulous and give them EVERYTHING that they ask for. I'm in the process of getting my nursing registration here in Australia and I've been a RN in the USA for 5 yrs. It's taken much longer then expected but that is probably due to the fact that I got caught in the middle of Australia transitioning to a national nursing/midwifery board. So you still have plenty of time to gather all the documents that you need and you'll need to wait til you finish school, pass the NCLEX and get licensed in the States. You can also call or email AHPRA and sometimes they answer your questions.

Good Luck with your studies! Oh also you should look into the hospitals near you and see if they offer new grad programs as often they do and they are like a yr long internship that you get paid for. But do it ahead of time as they fill up and usually only occur 2 x a year.

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Great! thanks for the advice! How long is the transferring process (of all the documents and papers they need)?

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Specializes in Medical.

Well I sent in my application in May and it's just about finished now. But for you it will be shorter because from July-October they weren't processing international applicants due to the disorganization of being a new National nursing board. They say that they will try to process the applications within 90 days. But really making sure that all your paper work is in order, all the documents are properly certified and etc will make a big difference in preventing delays.

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Thank you for your personal experiences, Leela. I plan to do the same after I get my BSN and pass my NCLEX. :)

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