Nursing in Perth?
 

Hi all,
my wife & I are looking to move to Perth early new year.
We have now started looking into jobs! My wife is a duel trained nurse (registered mental health & senior sister in A&E) she has applied for afew agency's & contacted afew of the hospitals direct.
We have just received a phone call from an agency in Melbourne stating that she had very little chance of getting a job in Perth. As the goverment has told certain states to only employ Australian nurses first & to pretty much stop altogether taking agency workers on. She said that we should consider moving to a different city (like Melbourne).
As you can expect we are alittle taken back by this as Perth is were we have are heart set on going.
Has anyone else heard of this??

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Skoots
My wife is currently a Mental health nurse working in Perth, As you may have seen or read RPH is set to lose 400 staff due to Budget cuts. How this will
affect the Mental Health sector i don't know but my wife tells me that they
are expecting cuts in the Hospital she works in and also that all UK nurses
that have been sponsored on Permanent visas are now on hold due to these cuts. Hope this helps

Forgot to add, on one hand they are issueing cut backs but on the other there is still a recruitment pool going on.
Look up South Metro as they are due to open a new Mental health hospital around June time

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Hi,

It's not far from the truth I'm afraid.

The hospital where I work in Perth is cutting down on both agency nurses and overseas nurses who needs sponsorship. I think it is to do with the budget but also because there is not so much of staff shortages anymore, especially as there are loads of nurses just graduated from Australian universities, my hospital alone is taking on about 400 new graduates.
I think the worst affected is the Royal Perth Hospital, they are even talking about job cuts and redundancies. One of my friends also told me that at one of the biggest hospitals in the city, there is a waiting list to go to work on their A&E.

I am not entirely sure about the private sector, the hospitals I mentioned are all public hospitals. Maybe your wife has a better chance to try the private sector, and my advice would be to contact the hospitals direct and not nursing agencies or through agencies.

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

There is a private sector in Perth also. RPH is cutting staff back [insane government policy] but there are other large hospitals which are not government run. Agency work though may be hard to get though.

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

hi, unfortunately i have to confirm what the others have said that the demand for nurses has decreased in perth. I am sponsored on a temp contract for two year i have been told that where as before i would have automatically got a permeant contract/sponsorship they are now only looking at individual cases so although there is a chance of continuing my sponsorship it is now very competitive.
They said that the demand for nurses has decreased because of the economy many nurse's have not retired due to losing superannuation and lots of nurses have come back to nursing as there partners have lost their jobs Also because of the budget cuts the hospitals are no longer using agency staff to cover shortages something which was quite common when i started.
Having said all that if they are considering individual cases with your wifes experience she could apply directly to hospitals or apply for PR?
Good luck don't give up!:)

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Hi,
Does it not help the fact that we are not after sponsership as we have been granted a 175 visa?

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

hi
i am at rockingham hospital and even though the RNs are now going into the pool there is a huge mental health dept being built with new wards ect.

you could always try that. on the A/E side, dont think you will have much luck i am afraid ....

good luck

debbie

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Yes you are in a much stronger position with a PR visa as you can work wherever you want and are not confined to your sponsor. I'm a nurse in Perth and work in drugs and alcohol, I also do casual shifts in the local hospital at the weekends and despite what people are saying I have absolutely no problem getting shifts. I usually ask for an early Sunday and have never been turned down or cancelled. Your wife may not get the exact area she wants but there are jobs available. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Tracie

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

I'm with Tracie on this - work is still fairly easy to find as a mental health nurse in Perth. The unit I work on regularly has to get agency staff - cut backs not effecting all areas, and as with most things, any areas that are effected by cutbacks you will find its cyclical and will turn around again in the future.
Good luck with what you decide on but I have to go with Perth!!!!

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Joondalup hospital (ramsay healthcare) has plenty of jobs going and a big A+E dept. Residency is probably a good idea but Ramsay are still offering sponsorships. Good luck x

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Hi. Going back to March this year I contacted a hospital in Fremantle regarding job opportunities in Perth. A lovely manager emailed me back and advised me that due to the recession there were no job vacancies at present in their hospitals, and she thought it best I got my 12 months experience here in the UK and then hopefuly things may be looking up. We couldn't waith that long and so have decided to hopefully get a visa with my husbands occupation which is also CSL.

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Oh god, I've just read all the replies on this thread :(
I only qualified last month (bachelor degree-adult nursing) but am keen to move to Perth as my boyfriend stands a high chance of getting a mechanics job out there. However dosn't sound like my chances will be too good... Any advice anyone??

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Hi. I qualified in January and too hope to work in Perth. Just like in the Uk when I started my training, jobs on the nursing front were non existent and we were all told there would be no jobs when I qualified, Three 3 years later here I am in my 2nd job since qualifying. I would have thought that there are nursing homes in Perth so I am quite happy to work there as a starting point. I work in dementia care here in the UK in a care home and although many nurses would never lower themselves to this level, after working in a hospital setting for 3 months I left and I absolutely love working in a care home. There are going to jobs if you are willing to leave your options open. Problems I think will only arise if you are specific about what specialism you wish to work in. My advice is Go for it. As a nurse and I am sure you have realised through your training, life is too short not to give your dreams a shot.

Good Luck

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Thanks for the advice K! :) I was actually looking into care homes last night. Got a interview for one in Edinburgh tomorrow so fingers crossed. I would plan to do some hospital bank work for extra too. Was thinking I might just email some c/homes in perth directly. Are you still nursing in the Uk just now?

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

The care home I work for in Perth are always taking on Nursing staff either casual or perm.

They have really cut back on using agency staff and are now training care staff to be med comp.

www.brightwatergroup.com


Mags

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Ive spoken to a few Australian nurses on another forum.

They have said that Victoria and Queensland are very short for nurses. These states seem to be hit worse at the moment.

Also regarding WA their is still jobs but that you may need to shop around for hospitals. A little bit further out of the centre and rural the more jobs.
* Also regarding the Perth central hospitals they reckon that they will have shortages in the future due to average age of nurses being 50.

My town in WA had adverts in the Press for the private hospital and the state only a couple of weeks ago and Im in WA.

From what Ive been told is shop around WA, and also consider Victoria and Queensland.

Gems

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Hi Maggy. I only just read your reply and was wondering how the jobs front is looking at the care home you work in. I have just checked out the website and have emailed them to ask for advice. We are heading for Joondalup and I see they have a care home there.

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

I believe the site in Kingsley that I work at are still looking for RN's and EN's not sure about Joondalup but they usually advertise on their website.

Kingsley is only 10 min drive from Joondalup and they also have a site in Edgewater which is a few minutes drive from Joondalup.

When are you arriving in Perth?

Mags

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Hi thanks for replying. We fly out on June 30th 2010. Just applied to do the IELTS test and then I can apply for registration... if I pass it!! I'll check that home out on the wbsite.

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

No worries

You shouldnt have a problem getting work when you arrive.

I would even suggest you just go into Kingsley and Joondalup Brightwater sites and hand in your resume.

I know a few people who have done this and started work almost immediatly.

Good luck and let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Mags

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

I'm an ex-nurse and my mother-in-law is in an aged care home, currently her 4th (hopefully no more moves). Her homes always seem to use agency staff as well as permanent ones and there are several other major care groups. Also try:
Aegis http://www.aegiscare.com.au/pages/joinourteam.asp
Bethanie http://www.bethanie.com.au/index.php...the-workforce1
Mercy http://www.mercycare.com.au/working-with-us/

If you're able to, a course on dementia nursing would also be helpful. There is a federal govt program to help older people stay at home for as long as possible, and these programs need coordinators and clinical nurses. There are also other options, eg there is a specialist behaviour program at Alzheimer's Australia in Perth, or there's also the option of becoming a nurse working on a research project, or becoming a nurse tutor. The unis to look into:
University of Western Australia (doesn't have nurse training, but large health research program)
Edith Cowan University
Murdoch University
Curtin University
University of Notre Dame

The WA govt website to look for nursing jobs is:
http://www.jobs.health.wa.gov.au/page.php?pageID=215

They currently are advertising 44 nursing jobs, including one for a community mental health nurse at Joondalup.

One thing about Perth (and other Australian cities) - you might end up doing something completely different, and there are plenty of opportunities here.

Good luck

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

I forgot a couple more:
Amana Living http://www.amanaliving.com.au/WORKIN...s/default.aspx
Fresh Fields (aka Hall & Prior) http://www.hallprior-agedcare.com.au/employment.htm

Lots of jobs listed on seek.com.au. If you do work through an agency, the big advantage is that you get to try out a hospital or care facility before committing yourself long-term, plus you might get to hear about jobs before they're advertisied (and some jobs don't get advertised at all).

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

I have to agree Agency work is a fab way to try out different hospitals and care facilities.

Mags

Re: Nursing in Perth?
 

Thankyou so much for the info it's much appreciated.