Hi there!
Stumbled on this site yesterday and thought great. We will maybe be able to obtain some much needed help. We have had our visa granted and will be emmigrating to Brisbane in July 2004. At the moment I am fluctuating from feeling scared stiff and then excited. My occupation in the UK is a Practice nurse and my husband is a construction site agent with a trade background of a bricklayer. We would much appreciate if anyone out there could give advice on job prospects in Brisbane for practice nurses, what roles they usually undertake, expected sallaries, quallifications and any other appropriate advice
With regards to my husband, we would like to have all the necessary paperwork sorted out before we arrive in oz to enable him to be working as quickly as possible
Looking forward to hearing from anyone
Helma

Hi Helma,

I can't give you any info on the building industry but I can give you info on nursing.

I presume that you have gone through the Australian equivalent of the UKCC(I can't think of their name at the moment) and had your registration recognised.
You then have to register in Queensland which is straightforward-costs $75 per year.
I have not worked in the UK for 10 years and I don't know what a nurse practitioner is/does in the UK.
I don't know much about nurse practitioners as I don't think the concept has really taken off here but there is information on the Queensland Health think nursing website.You could also try the QNU and the Nursing Registration Board of Queensland.

I don't think there are many nurse practitioners in the city areas -they are in the outback and in rural health.If you want to work in rural areas you usually need to be a midwife too.
If you give me some idea of what your job entails ie if you are in community /child heatth etc.I will give you some more info.

Mary

I think the UK role is the equivalent over here of a Lcinical Nurse Specialist (or CNS)

You should look at the state award as it applies to that role for Queensland. I'd expect 45-60k. My wife is a Reg Nurse and took home 55k last year after penalties etc. (penalties are bizarrely extras, like shift allowance etc).

As far as your husband is concerned - I don't know specifically, but its building madness over here so I wouldn't think he'll go short of work.

Your husband could always go back to his trade. Brickies have never made very good site agents anyway...something about not being able to use a level.

Hi mary
Thanks for the reply,
I am not a nurse practitioner but I am employed by a team of general practitioners. Mr roles consist running a coronary heart disease and heart failure clinic. family planning, cervical cytology, travel immunisation and advice, wound dressings, health promotion, venepuncture, hypertension clinics, child immunisation,ecg's, ear syringing, hearing tests etc. Are nurses in oz employed by gp's for these roles and if so are jobs frequently available. I also do relief work at a family planning clinic and A GENITO URINARY CLINIC. What sort of options are available for me. If poss I would like to avoid the hospitals.

Helma

Hi Helma,

I know what you mean about avoiding hospitals! I never want to make a bed or do nightduty again!

Have a look at the website www.health.qld.gov.au .There is a nursing careers advisor and she has a contact email address at [email protected] or telephone 07 3234 1544.

For wages and conditions look at WageLine on the Queensland Goverment website.It tells you all the "awards"( pay and conditions of all workers (this will also show your husband what he can expect to earn)).For nursing type in Nurses' Award State and Hospital Nurses' Award.

You could get a similar job here in a G.P.Medical Centre.However the rates of pay are less than in the hospitals i.e. only go to year 4 on the level 1 pay scale maybe $35K per year.

The equivalent of a Grade D/ Grade E is a Level 1.They earn$31-40 per year before penalties and the pay scale goes up with years of experience from year 1 to year8.Withshift work you can expect an extra $10K at least.
The equivalent of a Grade E/ F is a Level 2$41-$43and Level 3(Charge Nurse) $45-$47.It goes up to Level 5 Director of Nursing.
However I think they stop at Level I year 4 for Nurses in GP clinics.The idea of that was to award nurses in the hospital system.

Bring details of all your records of service and how many hours you have worked as they will recognise this and pay you the appropriate year.

If you have any post grad qualifications that will be to your advantage.All the post grad qualifications are through universities here and are VERY expensive therefore not many nurses do any courses anymore.

There is a real shortage of nurses but it seems to be mainly in the hospitals in critical care/medical surgical/ and other heavy /lots of shiftwork areas.They changed the training to University Degree and there have been teething problems with graduates not having enough clinical experience.

Don't avoid looking at jobs in the private health system.Lots more people are privately insured here than in the UK.
Hope this is some help.

Mary

Hi chippie
Nice to hear from a joiner with a sence of humour
Where abouts are you emmigrating. Have you done any paperwork yet

Keith (Helmas other half)

Brisbane, springtime, next year. Already got visas etc.

have you tried
www.ncah.com
you can subscribe (free) to a weekly email that has loads of jobs - agency, private, hospital etc. might have what you are looking for.
also
www.nursingjobs.com.au

sue

Hi Helma

My wife is in a very similar situation to yours. She has been a practice nurse in the UK for 3.5 yrs with similar clinics to yours though specialising in diabetes and CHD. It was some time since you wrote your note and am wondering how you have got on and whether you have found anything worthwhile - any advice would be apprecaited. We are at the very start of the process but are thinking of either Brisbane or Adelaide.

My wife also has no wish to return to hospital life unless she has to.

Helma are you there?

if you still use this site please can you let me know how you got on with practice nursing in oz, I do the same as you and hopefully going to Brisbane. It would be nice to hear from someone in Brisbane doing the same job as me hopefully!! Thanks Jackie

[Hi jackie,
Have just reconnected to internet so hope you are still around.

Practice nursing is very low profile here . I am employed by a company called Foundation health which employs practice nurses and reception staff around BrISBANE. At the moment I am disalussioned with practice nursing over here. Nurses are unable to see patients without them consulting their gp first. I am unable to do a dressing or even ROS without a Dr seeing the patient first and them making the decision on what action to take. I am unable to take cervical smears because that is the gp responcibillity but I am going to try and see if the Gps can be persuaded to let me do them in the future as long as I am covered. Maybe i will have to go back into the hospitals or maybe look into family planning. i think in the future things may change and we may head to a system more similar to the Uk. My opinion is that it is very money orientated here and siMilar to the USA.

If you have any further questions let me know,

Helma

Thanks Helma
Useful to know this, I will pass it on to my wife. It seems, without wishing to offend anyone, that a practice nurse is given very little responsibility and is more of an auxillary than a nurse.

[Hi Richard,
Practice nurses here also do vaccinations, baby and travel, ear syringing, ecg and spyrommetry but it is very task orientated and they do not work as independant in the uK. MAYBE i have just picked a bad company to work for.

Helma

Helma,
Not so sure it is a bad company you work for. Credit to the UK, they allow nurses to be autonomous. My wife is a practice nurse specialising in diabetes and would find it hard, ney unacceptable, to doing just what the GP said.

But it may be worth you looking elsewhere if possible
Richard