US-trained nurse looking to migrate to Australia or New Zealand

[BSNSN]

Hi,

I am looking to migrate to Australia and/or New Zealand. The Australian cities I had in mind are Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The New Zealand cities I had in mind are Wellington and Auckland.

I graduated this month with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing from a US university. I also have a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from another US university. I have several years of experience as a marketing analyst and as a nursing assistant. I also have 2 years experience as a nursing tutor/ educator assistant. I am scheduled to sit for the NCLEX-RN examination next month. I am enrolled in a Masters of Science Nursing program right now.

- What are some options for me in terms of visa?

- How do I go about applying for these options?

- Do I need to get registered with AHPRA there or will my registration in the US be sufficient?

- Are there any nursing hiring agencies you recommend I contact?

- Should I apply for the masters degree programs there? Which universities have the best nursing programs there?

I am very confused. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you very much.

[nephron19]

Hi all!

for anyone out there in Australia on a 462 work holiday visa- what agency did you get your insurance through? I'm blindly searching google... anyone know of cheap and reliable plans? thanks!

[Mommynurseof2]

Hello!

Hoping to move to Australia in another year with the hubby and two kids.

Was curious which visa you applied for? I am 34 so due to the age requirement I have to apply for permanent residence for skilled workers right? The paperwork really looks daunting!!

Really hoping its not hard to find a job since my six years of nursing has been mostly L&D and some nursery, and only midwives work in labor in Oz :/ Will hospitals train US RN's to different positions than experienced in? Any advice?

[nocturnal10]

Bama RN, how much experience did you have before you applied?

[kelly434]

It is really difficult to get a job as a RN in NZ at the moment. Only 65% of new grad nurses this year found jobs on a new grad programme. However once you have some experience it is much easyer. To employe a forigen nurse the employer must prove that a NZ nurse isnt capable to filling the role. Hence if you have experince you will be more employable.

Wellington is a really nice NZ City , Auckland is a city and living there you could be anywhere in the world. I would suggest Wellington is a nice choice.

[sophea14]

Hi Julianne, Thanks for your info. I'm working to get the Australian nursing license as well but it seem to be very confusing on the application. can you contact me please? my email is [email protected]

[jjaros00]

Hi Julianne! Just wondering if you were over in Aus now. How's nursing going there? I'm in the process of getting all the documents AHPRA requires for their licensing...and am feeling a bit overwhelmed honestly!

[jjaros00]

What's a general timeframe it takes hospitals to place GNP's they've contracted with?

[jjaros00]

I personally think Australian nursing is a lot better.Nurses are less stressed.Patients get free health care here and although we get wingers, American patients I found more demanding.Get em in get em out.Our working conditions are much better here.I work in the public system.We get 6 weeks paid holidays.double/triple time some holidays.one day paid rostered off a month.50/75 percent extra on our base pays working nights,weekends.We work shift work which is a huge difference from the USA.Australian nurses have more autonomy than US nurses and we provide a lot more hands on care.It's less territorial thinking someone's going to take your job.ICU nursing over here we do everything including vents, suctioning/meds.In Australia we draw up most of our drugs and have to know how to calculate, where as where I worked in the US we had Pyxis machines and antibiotics hung on a saline bag.I think US trained Nurses would find preparing meds a challenge, and a lot of the drugs are the same just different name used in the class and doses are less for some drugs.I love working in Australia.I believe our lifestyle, wages, conditions are the best in the world.Education wise we can get a 3 year Bachelor degree for $10,000 but Australian trained BN degree is not recognized as meeting US standards, but our clinical standards rock!!!

Would you say the pay difference in Aus is substantial enough to cover the difference in the cost of living?

[jjaros00]

Hi all!

for anyone out there in Australia on a 462 work holiday visa- what agency did you get your insurance through? I'm blindly searching google... anyone know of cheap and reliable plans? thanks!

What type of insurance?

[catjac90]

Thanks julianne.00- This was really helpful! I'm also an RN in PA with ED and peds experience looking to head to Australia maybe in the winter with my Australian bf if I can figure the whole paperwork/license/job thing out! lol I'm just starting to gather all my stuff to transfer my license but am curious about visas- Were the nursing agencies you looked at helpful with visas/sponsorship at all? I want to get the work-holiday visa since its cheaper/faster/might let me get there and scope out the scene but I'm just worried the temporariness of it will make me unhireable. Did there seem to be any concern over this when talking to them? Which visa did you go with/where are you in your job search now? Sorry for the interrogation, I've been researching different companies and will be investigating it myself but just got really excited to see someone with similar background succeeding in this often overwhelming process!! :) Hope everything's going well for you since this post!

Catie

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

Part of the visa requirements is health insurance as you are coming from the US. Australia does not have reciprocal rights so all halthcade has to be paid for. Free Health care is for Australian residents citizens and those form countries such as UK and Ireland that give free healthcare to Australians when they are there.

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

Agencirs will take you on as would casual stafing units or "bank" they employ these sort of people all the time as it is not guaranteed hours. The issue is registration. You need to deal with AHPRA.