Big Sky

Is anyone planning to go to Queensland Health's Open Evenings in the UK for Mental Health Professionals in February? In March they will be interviewing.
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/mh/presentation.asp

Does anyone currently work in Mental Health in QLD?

BS

mo33

Hi BS, i might pop down to the chester info evening!! See how that goes and maybe get an interview in March in Manchester. Are you going\?

Mo x

Big Sky

Hi Mo,
I'm planning to go to the one in York. I'm not going to apply until I get further info. I'm a social worker and interested in the work they do with children, particulalry the Evolve Teams. What do you do?
BS

minibelle

Hi

Thanks for letting me know, i will be going, might see you there mo33 wear a pink carnation.

minibelle

mo33

Hi BS, I'm just a plain ordinary mental health nurse! I'll go to the info nite but not sure wether its a good idea to accept a job (following a succesfull interview, that is!) until i see the ward/hosp........dunno, dilemma!
Mo

mo33

Hi minibelle, would be good to meet up & have a chat. Are you planning on the Chester one? Will have to arrange our pink carnations or something nearer the time. Not sure when its on though....do you know?
Mo x

minibelle

No i have emailed them, so i will let you know when i have had a reply.

minibelle

mo33

Ta la!

Mo

cufc

To all budding Queensland Mental Health professionals....be careful.. i worked for 4 years in Queensland Health as a senior mental health nurse...it is not as you may expect..standards are poor and a real corporate bullying culture in the organisation....Queensland health as a whole goes from inquiry to inquiry.
As a UK mental health professional you will quickly become deskilled... patients are seen as a nuisance to tolerate rather than work with..most staff you work with will be general nurses with no idea about mental health...Queensland is a beautiful place but ask yourself why do they have to recruit from overseas if they cant from within their own country... dont imagine that you will bring fresh ideas and positive change... you will be labelled as difficult for even gently suggesting minor changes to practice in a very gentle way... depends on what you are looking for... recruitment of UK staff is easy but retention is poor with most staff leaving within 12 months... i know some staff who were that distressed by practices they saw leave within 3-4 weeks. You will ask why did i stay 4 years...kids had started school and it cost us a lot of money to migrate...after kids had a few years in school we were gone....i must say a lot happier too. Victoria, NSW and SA have better mental health set ups...Queensland Health have just recedntly closed a Cardiac unit as the surgeons fell out and it could not be appropriately managed... what does that tell you. On a positive OZ is a fantastic place to be just chose carefully

mo33

give us some examples of what you've experienced. You get good & bad practice everywhere, certainly the NHS trust i work in at the mo is so money orientated etc etc, patients come a long way down the list of priorities and as for nurses well............need i go on?
Mo

minibelle

Thanks for the tip off

It would be nice to have a job to go into when we arrive, so we dont eat into our savings.

I work for a private company now, so its all about the profit and not about the service users well being.

The way i feel now it cant get any worse at work. As long as it pays the bills, it can keep me going till something better comes along.

Thats if they even want me, i am hoping to work for Qld disability services but the money is not great, are they any good, does anyone know?

minibelle

cufc

Im aware that there are problems in the NHS... however there is a bullying culture throughout QH ive seen it at a senior level... at ward/unit level i woulnt expect to see MH patients in the UK secluded naked and denied basic rights for 5-7 days.... you swear at a nurse and you are secluded.... staff are not trained in MH and basically imprison people...practices are very different...racism is rife in QH and forget your previous experience being acknowledged...as i said QH has an australian wide rep for dysfunction...just think about where you go in oz other states have better retention rates of overseas staff...QH dismisses the problem by saying UK staff havent adated to their system...which im glad most dont...

mo33

hi cufc, well that sound rather barbaric......god, i hope its not like that! On the other end of the spectrum though in our trust we have to remain facially appropriate to our clients for the shift. ie, smile etc. If a client finds our facial expressions uncomfortable they report us. They beat us up sometimes, they threaten our families......... and what support do we get? Naff all. So its one extreme to the other then.....
Mo

cufc

Hi mo pm me you like i can give you the rundownon on mental health nursing in OZ..sounds like your current workplace isnt that good but seriously i have worked in the UK, NZ and OZ and QH is a shocker..im not putting anyone off going to OZ as it is great and my current employment in South Australia is fantastic. Good luck with the journey but be careful where you work.

cadman

My wife is a psych nurse in here in Cairns and from what I have heard from her, everything cufc says is pretty spot on.

A word my wife uses frequently to describe working conditions on the acute ward is dangerous. The security team are on the other side of the hospital and aren't allowed to run to get there cos of health and safety, your co-workers are general trained nurses and stand around waiting for security while you're being attacked.

Andy