What is nursing in Oz like? Hours, annual leave entitlement?

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2010

I'm not a fulltime permanent nurse, so can't answer all of ur questions.

I live in Perth and it is an absolutely beautiful city and very clean and new. Much cheaper for housing than over east (Sydney, Melb) as most of the population of Oz lives on the east coast. I look outside and see lovely parklands, birds singing, can watch the rosella parrots outside my house and have a large shopping centre conveniently down the road - & I'm in the foothills which is considered the suburbs! And it's quiet too! Weather is lovely but the foothills can be a bit cold in winter, but mild compared to Adelaide Hills.

Freeways are everywhere here, no problem with travelling long distances, and there are trains and buses everywhere (literally). They are always on time, trains run every 15 mins, unless bad weather slows them down (for safety reasons) but they always let you know in advance. Hated Adelaide, not many nursing jobs there and it's an old, very religious type large, country 'city'.

As a full time nurse, you can expect to earn $25+ on dayshift, more on other shifts, you would probably get between 5-6 weeks annual leave. The average salary I was told was $51,000 per annum, but that wouldn't include all your shiftwork (and in WA, you can always pick up extra work, trust me).

When I've done clinicals and worked as an agency nurse in nearly all the public hospitals in Adelaide (& some private) the most nurse:patient ratio is 1-6 patients. Pretty good. But sometimes you work harder cos you may not have a PCA or anyone making/cleaning beds for instance - I found as a RN you had to do EVERYTHING, plus be in charge of students, etc. It is hard work. At the RAH you worked hard, QEH was good, Lyell McEwin is a smaller hospital, the Repat is nice too, don't have much experience with paeds, though Women's &Children's Hosp is good too. Worked privately too that is quite good, the hospitals are smaller and a bit friendlier. I did 10 hour nightshifts, and either 6 - 8 hour shifts. I doubt you would work 12 hour shifts.

Come over here to Perth, you can look me up, I work for a fantastic agency that gives you TONS of work, you won't be without work to start off with. There are lots of huge, public hospitals, and big private hosps here too. If you have a year or more of experience you won't be without good employment. You only need national registration, ($115 for that), current police clearance, current Aust driver's licence, Working with Children Check, ID like birth certificate, medicare card, etc. Public Hospitals over here run under the umbrella of NurseWest, so you will need to fill out a form which is faxed off to them, and they approve u to work in their hospitals. I found them too fussy, so I go with private hospitals, etc and it's great.

Come over you won't regret moving to Perth (email me on here if you do).

Caz

Arnesto · Oct 12, 2010

Whew!! I thought I would be able to help on the subject of Nursing here in Perth, but the 1st answer seems to cover it all. All I can do is say that carolmaccas answer is supported by at least one other Nurse here.

My wife and I are both Nurses here, and this has become our home. Perth is spectacularly easy to live in, it takes half an hour to drive anywhere, and what they call traffic congestion . . . isn't. To get away, you're closer to Bali than Sydney, and . . . well, it was all covered by Carol.

I wish you the best.

Roodee · Apr 14, 2011

hey all, im new to this..so hello... what a great informative email above, definitely must take note of it all. im a qualified s/n with degree and work in cardiac icu in the uk. I have just recently applied to the health visiting seconded course, and had the interview today.!! we've decided there in the meantime.. if i don't get accepted then we are seriously considering perth, as my younger broother and few friends are there. my husband is a building surveyor and there is nothing here....not one job!!. so we are thinking of getting up an going maybe in oct or after christmas! but i might start applying now for visa etc as from what i gather it takes ages. from what i have been reading it seems to be better to work in private rather than public ad that public registration takes a long time??. I was thinking of perhaps getting startd in agency if we do go...it would be nice for a while at least to have some control over my wokring life for a change after nearly 5 years of unsociable hours, rather than being contracted from here and maybe not even liking it, if you's get my drift. any idea on what to sort out first...visa... or registration?? im 27, hubby near 29...(yes gotta go soon!!lol) and we've no kids, no mortgage!! seems like a great opportunity if we are to get ourselves set up in life. that sunshine is just callin me...so is the sound of bali...although better not mention that to hubby just yet!!! :)

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2011

hey all, im new to this..so hello... what a great informative email above, definitely must take note of it all. im a qualified s/n with degree and work in cardiac icu in the uk. I have just recently applied to the health visiting seconded course, and had the interview today.!! we've decided there in the meantime.. if i don't get accepted then we are seriously considering perth, as my younger broother and few friends are there. my husband is a building surveyor and there is nothing here....not one job!!. so we are thinking of getting up an going maybe in oct or after christmas! but i might start applying now for visa etc as from what i gather it takes ages. from what i have been reading it seems to be better to work in private rather than public ad that public registration takes a long time??. I was thinking of perhaps getting startd in agency if we do go...it would be nice for a while at least to have some control over my wokring life for a change after nearly 5 years of unsociable hours, rather than being contracted from here and maybe not even liking it, if you's get my drift. any idea on what to sort out first...visa... or registration?? im 27, hubby near 29...(yes gotta go soon!!lol) and we've no kids, no mortgage!! seems like a great opportunity if we are to get ourselves set up in life. that sunshine is just callin me...so is the sound of bali...although better not mention that to hubby just yet!!! :)

No kids, no mortgage and you have experience?? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!

I have just left Perth (for various reasons), and it is an absolutely beautiful city. I wished I could have stayed but left due to unforseen circumstances.

The rents everywhere are expensive in every city in Oz, but in the outer suburbs are quite good in Perth. You can get a reasonable place for a decent price. Perth if so spread out, in the suburbs it's like country living, beautiful eucalyptus trees, lots of native birds (the black cockatoos are stunning), lots of parks, nature walks and the Swan River is gorgeous. There is HEAPS to do for couples and if you ever do have kids, they won't be bored. The public transport is excellent - the best in Australia apparently - and heaps of work for nurses. There are free buses in the city everywhere - I travelled round for a whole day once and didn't pay a cent!! And public transport is cheap. There are freeways (highways) literally everywhere, doesn't take long to commute anywhere.

Petrol just went up there , but it's the same round the whole country ($1.45 average for a litre of petrol).

People in Perth are so friendly, they will just start chatting to you about anything or smile at you for no reason!

Food is a bit more expensive, and much of the meat and other products etc is trucked in from over east, so it costs more to transport.

There is a HUGE new hospital being built in Perth near Murdoch University (will be fin in about 2014), also Perth is very, very clean, no graffiti in the city - there are cleaners everywhere, it's a very new city.

Perth is booming - literally building going on everywhere. I highly doubt ur hubby would be out of work at all - when I was there, they could not get enough builders and labourers and were desperate for them.

I worked at Hollywood Private Hospital, a very exclusive hospital in the heart of Perth. Contact all the nursing agencies, I worked for CPE group and they were fantastic. Their web address is: http://www.cpegroup.biz/

I would get the registration AND visa sorted first. If you have a passport it's easier, also try to get a police clearance as well, I don't know if you can get these through your Aust consulate but it's all done through Australia Post here, you can look online re this.

In WA you need to pass a Working with Children Check. Also a word of warning: NurseWest control ALL the hospitals and nurses who work in WA, if something goes wrong, they can ban you from working in every hospital public and private. NurseWest also require their own police check as well. I had problems with a real PITA patient who complained re me and NurseWest decided to 'ban' me from some of their hospitals. They are THE absolute power over there. I got work eventually but they can make your life really, really difficult. And with me I did nothing wrong but there was no enquiry, etc, they just told me I was banned from certain hospitals, so it is a VERY unfair system. WA is unique in this, as far as I know no other state has one ruling body for nursing (not counting the Australian Board of Nursing or ANF).

I don't think you would regret coming here at all. Our economy is booming in most states. We hardly felt the recession here from what most people have told me. I even met people who didn't even KNOW we had been in a recession!!

Here are some websites for jobs and real estate:

careerone.com.au and realestate.com.au

Good luck!

rssb13 · Jul 28, 2017

I am RN studied and working in US, working in cardiac unit (also worked in nursing home 2+yrs). Will get Aus RN Lic in few months (applied already), want to move to Perth, Australia..Can anyone guide/help me. How do I find employer to sponsor me. I am OK to start with Aged homes too. (1st time posting on this site). Thanks.