2016 US RN to Australia

Purple_KicksRN · Nov 3, 2016

I'm not sure how to tag people to view a new thread, but these people have posted on the old one in 2016:

Love911Nursing, IncyAbagail, eej9t5, Cottntale32. Please post if you're still interested!

Silverdragon102, BSN · Nov 3, 2016

Moved to the International Nursing forum

US RN in Oz · Nov 6, 2016

I moved to Oz from the US Approximately a year and a half ago. I was very fortunate to not have many problems with the process. There was an issue because, I did not have records from secondary school (high school) from over 25 years ago. The only reason they needed it was to make sure my high school was taught in English...yeah. Mind you, I was born, raised, and lived in America my entire life before the move. They're real stickers about that. I simply wrote up a "statutory declaration" stating my high school education was taught in English.

My advice would be to follow the directions with the application closely. If there is something missing, they will not simply throw it out. They will contact you, let you know what is needed and re-set the deadline.

It is very important that there is some sort of official document that proves your practical/clinical hours mey the minimum requirements. I believe it's 800 hrs. In Australia, these are included on the academic transcript. In America, they usually are not. I worked very closely with the vice-dean from my school to write official letters that proved anything the transcript did not. There was also something additional I needed written up for pharmacology.

The AHPRA process does take a while, 3-6 months.

I was very fortunate with visa, as well. I'm on the 186 Permanent Resident visa. I do not need sponsorship to work, I do not have any work restrictions, and my visa never expires. I am only lucky with this because, my partner job hooked her up.

I've never met another American nurse down here. I'm in Melbourne. I did, however, meet an American ICU nurse currently working in Adelaide through social media just last week. She is here on an 18 month visa with the option to renew. (It seems doubtful that she will renew... nursing here is quite different).

Lark101 · Nov 7, 2016

Hi Sir, just few question sir. Being an experienced RN in the US, did they require you to take the bridging program? And what about the secondary school, do they still need the Form 137?

Thank you.

US RN in Oz · Nov 7, 2016

Hi Lark,

I was not required to enroll in a bridging program. I've read about some other US nurses needing to do that. I cannot remember their exact situations but, I do remember thinking it was a ridiculous thing to ask them to do.

However, in some ways, it would have been nice to go through a bridging program. Nursing is quite different between the two countries.

Please, remind me. What is form 137? I filled out one massive application. They also may have changed the application process fairly recently. Although they would've liked to have it, I did not have secondary school transcripts sent. I sent them a copy of my GED and a Statutory Declaration stating I was taught in English.

Just out of curiosity, why are you interested in getting registration in Australia? If you are looking to advance your nursing career career in the future, this is not the place to be.

Although I love the lifestyle here and I am not a huge fan of America, I must admit, America is the best place in the English-speaking world to be a nurse.

US RN in Oz · Nov 7, 2016

In which countries are you already a citizen?

Lark101 · Nov 7, 2016

Form 137 is just like a TOR version but Secondary gradings from 1st-4th yr high school. Thanks for the insights sir. I'm hoping that they will consider to exempt US RN's in taking the BP.

Lark101 · Nov 7, 2016

BTW sir, i can not send you a PM (still disabled). [email protected] is my email.

akatsos · Nov 15, 2016

ahh hello all,

So happy that you started this new thread.

Backround: I am an pediatric (or paediatric as they spell it in Australia) in the US with 5-6 years experience. I have my BSN and I have been traveling for the past 4 years.

I have obtained my AHPRA registration in principle, I have obtained my work holiday visa subclass 462. I am ready to apply for jobs but I am having a really tough time! Luckily, both the AHPRA and immigration gave me 1 year to get to the country. I do not want to buy a plane ticket until I know that I have a job. Signing up for agencies and hoping for work is too large of a gamble, especially as the cities are saturated with peds nurses. I have spoken with a couple of agencies, one that I did not like. It had a website with pretty beaches and spoke of the great oppertunity and when I spoke with them they just said when you get here we'll try and get you shifts. I have been working with Geneva agency, and my recruiter kept in great contact and then all of a sudden communication has been dead for the past few weeks. Hasn't answered a single email or called my references. Now I just don't know what to do. I contacted first choice agency, and they want you to have 1000 hours of experience in Australia!

I tried applying directly to hospitals. I sent in two applications for queensland health, one was an expression of interest application, and the other was to Lady Cilento, after I girl I randomly met in a bar was a current employee. I haven't heard anything back. I am kind of unsure what to do at this point.

I looked into rural nursing, which houses you and some even pay for your food. It might be tough to get around without a car, but of the two people I spoke with who did it, they both had positive experiences and would recommend it. Geneva was supposed to help me out with that, but Im concerned by the lack of response?

Anybody else in a similar boat? Or anybody else have trouble with the application? I ended up having to submit extra documents a few times. I have licenses in 11 states, adn they all had to send certificates of good standing. And all 5 employers had to write me letters. And every single one of them did not follow the guide I gave them for what was needed. My assigned AHPRA officer kept in EXCELLENT email commication, and was super helpful during the process.

Alex

US RN in Oz · Nov 15, 2016

Hi Alex,

I have found that SEEK - Australia'''s no. 1 jobs, employment, career and recruitment site is a good tool to search for solid jobs in Oz. There are a fair number of 6 month to one-year contracts... since maternity leave here is one year.

I feel it may be difficult to land a decent job without a face-to-face interview. There are a few Australian agencies that do contracts. HCA is one. I will check what the others are. I am unsure of they would take someone on without am interview.

There are per diem agencies that will literally hire you on the spot and find work straight away. That's what I did when I first arrived. They will want to meet face-to-face first. I can ask the ones I know how often they need paeds RNS.

It may a situation where one would simply need to throw caution to the wind and take a minor risk. How do you feel about flying here on an open ended ticket? Take a holiday. If things work out, cool. If not, at least you tried.

It is a bold move to make even when things are planned out well. The main decision maker for us was, if things didn't work out, we could always go back... but if we didn't go, we would alway wonder "what if".

Cottntale32 · Nov 15, 2016

Hi Alex,
I have found that SEEK - Australia'''s no. 1 jobs, employment, career and recruitment site is a good tool to search for solid jobs in Oz. There are a fair number of 6 month to one-year contracts... since maternity leave here is one year.
I feel it may be difficult to land a decent job without a face-to-face interview. There are a few Australian agencies that do contracts. HCA is one. I will check what the others are. I am unsure of they would take someone on without am interview.
There are per diem agencies that will literally hire you on the spot and find work straight away. That's what I did when I first arrived. They will want to meet face-to-face first. I can ask the ones I know how often they need paeds RNS.
It may a situation where one would simply need to throw caution to the wind and take a minor risk. How do you feel about flying here on an open ended ticket? Take a holiday. If things work out, cool. If not, at least you tried.
It is a bold move to make even when things are planned out well. The main decision maker for us was, if things didn't work out, we could always go back... but if we didn't go, we would alway wonder "what if".

Hi Clarke Bar!

Can you give us some insight on working in Australia as an RN? How is it different from where you were previously? I'm from the US and I'm trying to get an idea....