afcno9

My girlfriend and I are starting the process to move to Australia. My girlfriend is an E grade RMN of 3yrs exp. I am looking to work as the equivilent of a HCA in the mental health field. From what we have worked out She will be on about $43,000 and i should be on about $25,000.

Could anyone tell me what nursing assistants on acute mental health wards are expected to do, is it very different to the UK. Since deciding to move to Oz we have both heard some worrying things about the mental health system over there. One nurse on here mentioned it, but wouldnt elaborate, could anyone else add to this?

On these wages is sydney going to feel very expensive? We will also have to use $360 a month on debts we have here.

Anyway i know that was all a bit of a muddle but i have so many questions.

Many Thanks!!!!!!!

Tass

Hi there ! Welcome to the forum!
From what I have seen since arriving here RMNs are in demand. There are big mental health issues out here and so specialist nurses are always being looked for. I would think tho , that your girlfriend could expect to be paid more than $43,000, I'll have a look and see what I can find regerding NSW pay scales.
Cost of Living in Sydney depends very much where you are.You do not pay the equivalent of "council tax or water rates out here , the landlord does , so that is a saving.(you only pay for the amount of water you use )
Sorry I can't help much more , I am RGN with 10 years + experience so wages and things are different for me.
Good luck , I'm sure someone else who knows more will be along shortly,
All the best,
Tass.

afcno9

Many Thanks for taking the time to reply. That was a figure given to us by an agency so i guess it may not be totaly accurate.

Any more info greatly appreciated.

Tass

Are you using an agency ? Are you applying independantly ? So many questions and so much advice (for what it's worth ).My husband and I are both nurses and applied by ourselves. Several reasons main one being we thought the fees the agency were charging were ridiculous.We did ANMC assessment first and thought if we could do that ourselves then we could do main application ourselves too . Absolutely no problems and saved us a bl##dy fortune !( I know other people on here do some things differently , but this is how we did it )
We also chose not to go down the sponsered route because we didn't want to be stuck in jobs we hated , although since coming here I have heard of nurses that have moved around by getting different hospitals to "take over " their sponsorship.
We have found a good choice of work out here and plenty of it. British nurses are loved because they are reknowned (is that a word ) for being very well trained.
We enjoy the freedom of PR status and could work our way around Australia no problem if we didn't have kids.
I will try to find out RMN info , links whatever , for you and post them soon ( if I remember, it's the beginning of school holidays here just now )
PM me if you think I can help you at all.
All the best,
Tass.

kelman

Hi i am a RMN and have been nursing for over 20 years, i have got a pr visa and will be moving to Queensland as soon as i sell we sell our house. My brother in law and his wife work in mental health in oz and from what they have told me it is very much behind the times compared to the uk. i am currently a ward sister on an acute admission ward for older people with dementia but from what i can see they dont have older people in hospital they tend to use nursing homes therefore i will probably try for community.I dont know much about the wages only that there seems to be 2 levels for trained nurses.If you do decide to apply definetaly go for PR as you will not be restricted to where you work.
good luck with what ever you decide and let me know if you need any advice.
Dawn

Tass

Okay , here's link number one.

www.anzmhn.org mental health nursing info.

www.anzcmhn.org/info_mh_nursing.html mental health nursing wages info.

Hope you find something that helps. A good way to find out exactly how it's going to work for you is to e-mail the nurse unit manager directly. They are usually very helpful , but remember the time difference when you're waiting for a reply.
All the best,
Tass.

Tass

Hi ! Okay B-I-G advert in the Sunday Telegraph .

OPPORTUNITIES IN MENTAL HEALTH NURSING.
Work in an environment where you can make a difference.
>Scholarships for futher study.
>Flexible rostering available.
NSW HEALTH is seeking :
RN & EN. Nurses planning to return to the workforce.
Previous experience in mental health is welcome but not necessary. Positions are available in metropolitan & rural hospitals & Justice health.
NSW Health can also offer:
Orientation Programmes, Salary packaging, mentoring, clinical skills updates, Ongoing clinincal professional development.
EXPERIENCED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ARE AVAILABLE TO ASSIST WITH YOUR ENQUIRY on our toll free number(9am-5pm)
1800 330 933 or visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/nursing/

Don't know if it's just a retraining thing , but hopefully of use to someone.
All the best,
Tass

binman

Hello. I worked in a couple of psych hospitals in NSW as a RMN. There were no psych assistants in either hospitals, everyone was registered. Friends working in Victoria report much the same but I don't know about other states. Sydney is in my opinion one of the worlds great cities but is expensive. Maybe ask yourself on your combined income could you live comfortably in London and then apply that to Sydney. Cheers Bin man