Working on the wards

[StuartKarl]

Hi Guys, Me and my partner are both hoping to make the move to Australia and will be qualified nurses. Could people answer a few questions for me.

1) Are you glad you made the move?

2) Was the transition from nursing in the UK to Australia difficult?

3) Are shift patterns similar to the UK i.e. 12 hour shifts?

4) Please tell me the wards have air conditioning!! ha

Thanks

[abcde1234]

I am an Australian nurse, but I have worked in the UK so I might be able to answer some of your questions.

I didn't find a huge difference in the style of nursing, though depending on where you worked in the UK and where you work in Australia you might find some differences in what you can do and how involved the doctors are,Mitch seems to be site specific.

You may not find 12 hour shifts to be common, this again depends on where you work. Psych I know does them a lot in my state, and to a lesser degree ICU's and ED's, however often you will need to be permanent for a certain length of time before you can get 12 hour shifts. A lot of places, in my state, still do exclusively 8 hour shifts, though they have 10 hour night duties.

[abcde1234]

Oh and the wards do have ac.

But you will probably get better info if you can give an idea of the geographical area you want to work (hospitals in Australia are run at a state level so thing can vary depending where you are going to go) and what area of nursing you are looking at.

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

Theoretically my ward has AC. It is also got picture windows so you do the math!

I moved from ireland to aus in 2008 as the economy was in the toilet. Did agency in Sydney and then moved to Melbourne for a permanent job. The state of Victoria has nurse patients ratios mandated so metro hospital is 1:4 on a general ward 1:3 cubicle s in ED, 1:1 in resus, 1:1 ICU, 1:2 HDU. During the day, slightly higher at night.

Defo glad I made the move, girls I trained with are still at the same level as when we qualified, I've been a ward sister, bed manger etc. Much more opportunity in metro hospitals anyway.

A few meds are slightly different but its all pretty the same. My hospital does not employ HCA so its all primary care or some random wards do team nursing.

Shifts are mostly early 7-15.30 late 13-21.30 night 21.00 - 730. Education during double staffing.

Where are you planning on moving to?

I would advise getting at least a year under your belt, as most places want a "grad year" which is a consolidation year post reg as nursing students dont get a lot clinical placement due to a lot of uni wanting time on the wards. Demand for grad year outstrips supply every year.

[Vinniesguy]

I moved to Australia from England (via germany) in 2003 and have never regretted it.

12 hour shifts are not usual - in my hospital only ICU do them and even then it's not mandatory.

Living in Aus you won't want to be locked away for that long anyway!

I'm in Sydney - shift times are the same as the poster above suggested.

We do have AC but it doesn't always work in our favour - some of the rooms end up bitterly cold regardless of what the time of year is!

And you will need a year of experience if you want to work anywhere other than aged care facilities. Even agencies are reluctant to hire nurses with no experience as the hospitals who ring for nurses usually ask for at least a second year - I used to work on the bookings desk of an agency so I know!

Good luck with it all though - it's a great country and a great place to be a nurse