Professional Princess

I have heard of someone going on the LD qualification, ive just emailed the ANC to see what they say.

I really hope I dont have to change brances, as I thought long and hard about which direction and this is the only one that excited me if you know what I mean.

(Thanks so much for your reply Michelle.)

I cant belive its down to the wording with australia as in developmental nursing. On a nurse recruitment site, they say they recognise LD.

I would like to do the degree but will lose my bursary and cannot afford in any shape or means to go without a salary. Shame though.

Professional Princess

Im going to Thames Valley University which everyone shudders at its reputation.

But im old enough and ugly enough to use the info given and study myself.

I tell you my gut instincts are telling me I will make a huge mistake by changing.

I have loads of work to do, but my fingers are making me come to expats.

debbiemc

i'll keep everything crossed for you PP i hope you're right. if you are i won't tell the girl at work who's changed branch !!!!


now i'm REALLY going to start my assignment, its due in monday and haven't started yet and i've been on expats for 3 hours!!

you're right about the uni, as long as you're given the right work to do, then its up to the individual the amount of work you put into your own study.

good luck and let us know

Gill and Rob

Think carefully about NZ !!!!

NZ ONLY trains "Comprehensive Nurses". 3 years training that covers adult/child/mental health/LD ALL IN 3 YEARS !!! {Yeah right !!!}.

I believe LD nursing was called Psychopaedic nursing. I have NEVER seen any job vacancies for this speciality, in the 2 years I have lived here. There is not the services for people with LD that there are in the UK.

NZ is a strange country in many ways, take the example of Enrolled nurses. EN's are treated dreadfully. They are not allowed to work in mental health or give medication in any form other than oral.

Sorry if this seems a little negative.

Gill

Professional Princess

Thanks so much for all your comments.

I am going to go with my strong gut feeling which is to stay with LD.

It does appear from talking to many others that the difference is the wording as in Developmental nursing and Learning Disabilities.

I am going to start in sept as planned, because dont ask me why and im buggered if I can describe it, but I think I should stick with this branch.

I think its a relatively new branch of nursing if you know what i mean and things are always changing in the nursing profession and I do feel that its only a matter of time before it will get recognition in Australia.

The ANMC havent said they wont recognise the RN (LD) its just down to the individual State.

I think LD is such a specialised area - like all branches and does deserve its own branch.

It took alot of thought to decide which branch to take and I was happy with my choice, its a long time since the thought of study excited me.

I feel to change on the basis that some states dont recognise, would be compromising the area of nursing I really want to do.

So, Im going with my instincts and Im going to start, take each day as it comes and I bet you pretty soon, Australia will soon be crying out for LD nurses and recognising them for the skilled people that they are.

A year down the line, I shall review the matter, but sometimes in life, you need to take a gamble.

I suppose thats what Im doing.

Wish me luck.

mandi248

I wish you all the luck in the world Sam, hope it all works out for you in the end.
I really admire you for sticking with your gut instincts.
Mandi

debbiemc

ditto x like i said, what will be eh!

Gill and Rob

Good luck with your course. It is certainly not an area of nursing I could work in. I'm sure I read somewhere a couple of years ago that some courses in LD nursing also combines a social work qualification.

As for it being a new branch of nursing, I'm sure it was called "Mental Sub-Normality" when I trained many moons ago.

Cheers
Gill

binman

There is still a mental handicap hospital in Levin on the North Island but I believe that is due to close at some stage. However the forensic facility in Auckland intend building a mental handicap unit sometime in the future and I believe there is one in Wellington. Much of the care after the closing of the big hospitals was tendered out to the private sector which resulted in poor pay and conditions. cheers binman http://seek.co.nz/users/apply/index....0127&Keywords= Mason clinic has a very good reputation and compared to the acute units is a relatively safe place to work.

Diane82

I complete my training in LD nursing this month! Yippee!!

I went with my instincts and carried on with LD, even though I thought about transferring after first year to adult to get work in Oz. Unfortunately I haven't been making enquiries lately as I have been too busy with course work, but from previous enquiries I think its positive enough to pursue. I think only certain states recognise this qualification, NSW is one of them and often advertise for reg. nurses in intellectual disabilities (the remit is exactly the same). We are travelling to SA soon to visit family and hopefully I can make some enquiries when there. SA would be my first choice to emigrate to, but I haven't found any jobs advertised here.

I managed to get useful information from the RCN on work in Oz. You could also try www.dadhc.nsw.gov.au


Hope this helps. I will try to keep you posted with any developments. Good luck with your training, and hope you make the right decision.

Professional Princess

Thanks for the info, if you can keep me posted that would be great.

Yes, I too am going to stick with what feels right. My feeling is that soon within the next couple of years, it will be more recognised.

Im not compromising my ambition now, its an area I have worked in before and would enjoy training in.

Hope to speak to you soon.

Sam

walla

Hi Sam

Just noticed your thread in the lounge and thought I'd pop in here. It may be the terminology you're using, in WA (not sure about the rest of Oz) the terminology is Intellectual Disability, maybe that could be it?

Anyway I work in the LD/ID field out here in WA and I must admit I haven't even heard the term of LD or ID Nurse mentioned.

Where are you doing the training? I used to do some work with the student LD nurses at York Uni when I was back in the UK.

On the bright side at the end of the day it's a degree and should be sufficient to get a visa (if that's the purpose of the training) and you can always work in the field of LD/ID when here, just a thought.....

Professional Princess

Im not doing the degree course, cant afford it, im doing the diploma. You have the choice to do the last year of your training as the degree but you lose your bursary and have to pay them to do it.

Cant do that, so will do the diploma. You still get on the nursing register and have the letters RN after your name.

walla

alrighty then, terminology over here is Developmental Disability Nurse, hope this helps...

tracey.d

Hi Sam,
Sorry you are having such a nightmare

I think getting your nursing qualifications in another country can be a bit of a nightmare, with LD being the worst. This is very sad as it is a very specialist area and the need for more LD nurses cannot be highlighted enough.

However, I am a paediatric nurse who, upon qualifying went into paed, LD/ complex needs. I really loved the job but found that the LD trained nurses although very good at the emotional/ social aspect of the job were not up to date with the medical needs of the kids. They were very devoted and had to learn as the childrens needs progressed.

With technology forever advancing the needs of some children are increasing rapidly. I personally think that there is a gap in the training of LD nurses. Sorry to any that read this . It is not the fault of the nurses but the universities. I think they lack the medical training required to work in this arena. I am not just saying this from my own viewpoint but from those who qualified at the same time and after me!!

At the university that I trained at the course is now combined with social work. This is a very good course for people wanting to work with mild to moderate LD, enabling them to promote the independence of their clients but what are they going to do when they go into status or if the client has a trachy? They are often left feeling out of their depth.

I am not in any way condemning the LD courses as I think the amount of places should be increased and that it should get better recognition. I just feel that the course content should be updated to recognise the needs of the client group.

Sorry, gone off on one again

Back to topic. If you have to change branch then I would suggest adult. Although this is probably not the route you wish to take it opens up many more opportunities to you. It would probably be the easiest route for you to get into your chosen field once you are in Australia. I also think that you would have a better chance of getting into that branch. Like LD the places for child branch are very limited and therefore often difficult to transfer to.

If I could choose the route to go down again I would probably do adult as you can always convert to any of the other branches with a relatively short conversion course. Adult is definitely the one to give you the greatest opportunities.

If I can help in any way just pm me

Tracey.