Nibbs

A heads up for nurses heading to Perth.

Two of the major hospitals Royal Perth and Charles Gardiner are not recruiting at the moment.

About four months ago they were desperately short but then took in a large graduate intake to cover the holes. They still have a shortage of skilled staff but do not have the budget to recruit.

I know this as H has just completed a referesher course at Royal Perth.

In addition it seems like all nurses have to start at level 1 and then apply for more senior posts. This is certainly not what H was told on the open day as she was a G grade in the UK so level 1 is taking the p*ss a bit.

On Saturday The West reported a plan to close the above hospitals and build a new 600 bed facility south of the Swan. Now I'm not sure how likely that is since it woud have the number of beds (both currently have around 600) and would seem like political suicide but who knows. I doubt it's that serious as a plan like this would take a while to implement.

This has come as a bit of blow as we knew it would take a while for me to get work (being bone idle an' all) but we though H would be no drama.

Seems not!

lizmiller

I have just got a job at Royal Perth, I emailed my cv and I had a telephone interview shortly after and got the job.
So it must depend on area and experience. They also offered me level 8.
My husband and I have also been offered jobs at Fremantle Hospital and they were really friendly.
We come out in June and we really cant wait!
Regards
Liz

dibrucewillis

Thats certainly a bit worrying.
I'm off to Perth on a validation trip commencing next Tuesday and whilst I am there I am hoping to arrange to have an informal visit at the Royal Perth .
I was offered a telephone interview last year around about July/August 2004 and at that time I understood that there was a number of vacancies.
It just goes to show how things can change so much in just a short space of time!

Di

vicky o

Oh Lord, that is a bit worrying. Might have to rethink. We were hoping for me to land a job easily when we got there later this year. Might have some early morning phone calls to make now.

Nibbs

Nice one Liz,

Do you specialise? H is a Senior Nurse with 15 years experience, so I would have though she'd have been OK.

BTW, I heard on the news this am that some group or othger is lobbying for more beds! Like I said, I'd be suprised if Gallop gets away with cutting beds.

Cheers

Nick

paula m

Girls and guys,
you should come to Mandurah they cant get enough nurses down here and if you are a midwife like myself you are laughing. If any one would like more info on the hospital and area please email me. We also have a couple of houses that we rent out fully furnished and equipted which migrants find helpfull when they first arrive.
Please feel free to email me re either on
[email protected]

Grayling

I mentioned this on a post not too long ago and no one seemed to take any notice.
It does not just happen in Perth.
Although more senior posts are available most services prefer to employ migrants on basic grades and these are the nurses agencies prefer as well.

G

teresa.c

I work at Charlies, and they graded me on my past working experience. I just had to provide references to prove how many years experience I had. I qualified in 1992, worked on and off in a variety of settings, including agency since then. I am in renal now, did it for 3 and a half yrs in the uk, and had 18 months out of it before coming to OZ. I was 3rd increment E in UK. Charlies graded me, level 1.9. Almost $50,000pa. Im not complaining!!

JaneConnolly

Hi Paula,

Does the hospital have an Emergency Department? does Perth have an Emergency department? We are thinking of moving to Perth in 2006 and as a G grade Emergency Nurse Practitioner I am wondering what will be available for me, any ideas?
Jane

Grayling

Jane
Make sure you get what you want before you go.
As I said previously many hospitals prefer to employ on basic RN1 grades.
You may not find the post you are looking for.

I worked as an 'I' grade nurse in the UK but in some places was still only offered an RN1 grade post.

Be careful.

G

lizmiller

Hi jane
there is a small A&E in Mandurah but anything remotely unwell or interesting comes to Fremantle.
Grayling is absolutely right, you will not get an ENP post here, you will be a RN1 and I also have to say you will probably receive no credit for prior experience or learning. Sure they will pay you according to years qualified but no one will actually credit you with any ability or knowledge when you get here. I know I sound bitter but I am sorry but that is my experience. I was a sister in a busy A&E dept in a big city in uk, I have been shown how to set up for an arterial line here! It makes no difference that you explain what your experiece is they still carry on explaining.
I appreciate they have a lot of English nurses comming over and can get a bit fed up but why employ us? I thing its great to come when you are more junior but all the English nurses I have spoken to F or above find it really hard. Its not just Fremantle either most of the hospitals are the same.
Sorry to sound a bit negative but this is how I see it.
Regards
Liz

cadman

Can anyone give us an idea of the demand for Mental Health nurses in / around Perth?

cheers.

yvsie

From what I can gather it seems that uk nurses in general will notice the lack of autonomy that they had there.
I was a practice nurse in the uk and ran diabetes, asthma, smoking cessation blah blah etc etc there. Here it is GP led completely.....to the point that I have to check with the Dr that its ok to remove sutures!
Having said that, I am the nurse manager here now....just means that I get equiv to what I would if I worked in the hospitals thats all.
Practice nursing pay overall here is crap!...and GP practices have a problem with recruitment and retention but because the wage is low they cant attract nurses in at all. Like I said the the principal GP...if money is the issue then nurses will work for agency or wherever they can get the most..who wouldnt!...if its just part time work and a quiet little job with no hassles really then they will come to work in general practice.....possibly
Australian GP's have practice nurses as a luxury and lots dont bother with them at all. Also the GP's pay for 100% of the nurses pay(not subsidised by the 'health authority' or Divisions as they are called here)

I am looking into being credentialled as a smear taker here...did it in UK too....its a shame that we gained all kinds of skills in the UK that we arent able to use here ....so here's hoping. Again though, to be able to take smears here is a payment issue!...GP's get paid per consultation not per pt head per annum...so if I did a smear it would be one less that a GP could do...therefore less dosh!......

just my two cents worth!