mooncat

Thought (to myself) that it would be interesting to hear about people's experiences as RMN's in Oz. I have read so many threads with cryptic comments on, just wondered if anyone would like to share their experiences..differences, similarities, what's good, what's not so good, where's good, where's not so good...?

mooncat

OUCH!!! Do I take it there's nobody out there willing to share?

cufc

Mental Health Nursing in OZ is in crisis... a very different way of doing things... however its not all rosy in the UK and you have to remember that... nurses dont need to psychiatric nurses to work in psych... which is a difficulty... more about attitude towards patients and risk management ...a very basic looking after people medical model of care...
However life is fantastic and the unit i work in in a senior position is making headway to hopefully become a good unit we have a smattering of good UK staff and some good kiwis i might add.
Send me a message if you want to know anymore.

CasG

I originally came to Aus on a 457 temp visa and was placed in an awful unit.....funnily enough entirely staffed by nurses on 457 Visa's ......so bad they couldn't get Aus nurses to work there !!
Anyway....soon applied for my 136 Skilled Independant Visa. which I got over a year ago.

Had a break from nursing for a bit...but now work for a great Agency called Swingshift ....just deals with Psych nurses - been to some great places ....my fav being The Alfred Hospital here in Melbourne ...have been offered a job there...and considering it.....the only thing stopping me is that I like the diversity of going to different places, and also the money....loads better.

I think I as just unlucky at first - I have found some great practice going on.

paulb

Seems like a bit harsh....where I've worked it did / does not not seem in crisis! Not as advanced in practice as the UK but certainly not in crisis. I've worked in access and home based acute care in QLD and continuing care in Victoria. Im now a team co-ordinator, of what I hope is a forward thinking, highly motivated, highly skilled team

Loubags

I heard loads of negative stuff regarding mental health nursing before I arrived here, so was a bit worried about what I might find, but having been here a few weeks now, its nowhere near as bad as I thought it might be.

Community services are patchy with long waiting lists, but all the staff I have come across are great and the team I work with is one of the friendliest I have known. Yes, there are things that I would like to see changed or done differently, but this applied in the UK too.