nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Old May 16th 2007, 5:33 am
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Originally Posted by ozzieclare2b
are there great differences between practices here in the uk and in oz?? i was told they dont have hcas and the ratio of staff to patients is alot smaller.

Also how feasable would it be to only work a certain shift pattern say nights??

Would love to hear peoples experiences xx clare
Also Clare, forgot to mention, we dont have HCAs but we have PSAs (patient services assistants)...angles in purple teeshirts! I have made about 5 beds inthe last two years! Honestly these people are great, we have one or two per shift and they make all the beds, do all the transfers to xray etc and clean all the rooms after discharge... they are worth their weight in gold and we really feel it if they are on sick leave!
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Old May 16th 2007, 6:23 am
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Hi Heather have just reas your thread and it was really good and balanced. I am really interested in what reasearch you have to do for your continued grade. Is it acutal resarch or is it more a literature review to find good research to change practice.
Ta
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Old May 16th 2007, 7:27 am
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

" love my work here, I loved my work in Birmingham,"

Think that sums it up quite nicely... I love my work here, its just I hate the nhs and what the govt is doing to nurses and MY patients.
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Old May 16th 2007, 7:49 am
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Originally Posted by tillysmum
Hi Heather have just reas your thread and it was really good and balanced. I am really interested in what reasearch you have to do for your continued grade. Is it acutal resarch or is it more a literature review to find good research to change practice.
Ta
Revalidation for CNS consists of four elements which are Clinical Practice Promotion - policy development or a review of a policy and initiation of a change in practice because of this; procedure or competency development; final report of a research project relevant to speciality area or evidence of major involvement in a research project that has resulted in change of clinical practice
Professional Development - attendance at seminar/conference relevant to speciality with evidence of dissemination to colleagues ie inservice teaching etc; completion of a course relevant to area
Education - preparation and presentation of inservice teaching sessions; preceptorship; development of education tool for patient ie staff education board, resource folder etc; clinical supervision; participation in clinical assessments
Advanced Practice - acting in role of Clinical Nurse Educator/Nurse Unit manager/ Clinical Nurse Consultant for more than 5 days; participation in a clinical review of an adverse event; completion of a competency based assessment relevant to specialty

Each of the criteria warrants a certain amount of points eg a new policy development will get you 40 points towards the total of 80 required each year whereas an inservice teaching session will get you only 10pts so you get the idea. A grading committee sit every three months in order to process each application and will grant or take away your CNS status as they see fit !
Hope this helps! This grading/revalidation is relevant for my health authority... probably completely different in another area health service!
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Old May 16th 2007, 10:56 am
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Originally Posted by rumbletum
Revalidation for CNS consists of four elements which are Clinical Practice Promotion - policy development or a review of a policy and initiation of a change in practice because of this; procedure or competency development; final report of a research project relevant to speciality area or evidence of major involvement in a research project that has resulted in change of clinical practice
Professional Development - attendance at seminar/conference relevant to speciality with evidence of dissemination to colleagues ie inservice teaching etc; completion of a course relevant to area
Education - preparation and presentation of inservice teaching sessions; preceptorship; development of education tool for patient ie staff education board, resource folder etc; clinical supervision; participation in clinical assessments
Advanced Practice - acting in role of Clinical Nurse Educator/Nurse Unit manager/ Clinical Nurse Consultant for more than 5 days; participation in a clinical review of an adverse event; completion of a competency based assessment relevant to specialty

Each of the criteria warrants a certain amount of points eg a new policy development will get you 40 points towards the total of 80 required each year whereas an inservice teaching session will get you only 10pts so you get the idea. A grading committee sit every three months in order to process each application and will grant or take away your CNS status as they see fit !
Hope this helps! This grading/revalidation is relevant for my health authority... probably completely different in another area health service!
Bloomin Heck! I don't think I'll be applying for that then, I hate presentations. Good for you if you can do it
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Old May 16th 2007, 12:15 pm
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Originally Posted by breezeboylan
I keep hearing how nurses are paid less over here, some people saying they are earning less then half what they did at home. I haven't found that at all. At home I always worked long day Sundays to top up my wages. I've been here 6 months and have never worked a Sunday and have found no difference in my wages. In fact I would say I am taking home more over here then I was at home although that depends on what exchange rate you use. But I definitely am no worse of. I dont particulary think nursing is any different then at home but have found that a lot of the meds, equipment that we have at home are unheard of here. Nurse seem very confidant over here and dont admit to not knowing something the way we all did (or maybe we were all a bit thick were I worked )I have found the Dr's to be a lot less on the ball then ours though ,
Tracie
I agree with Tracie as for me paywise the difference was under 1 pound 20 eg here in London as a band 5 i get paid 11.70 (pounds / hr ) monday to friday and in melbourne my minimum was $25.50 /hr (10.40 using an avarage exchange rate of $2.45 to the pound) monday to friday depending with the exchange rate the difference was tiny . cost of living is slightly less with petrol ranging around 40 to 46 cents as an example, ofcourse this is depended on your lifestyle.

i also have 2 oz friends who were in london with me and left around october last year and are working at the hospital i do bank work their pay is much better than in london. we were just comparing payslips (london v melbourne)the other time and taking into consideration the cost of living here in london in the end they were far better in melb than in london.

in short for me going to melbourne wont make me suffer financially at all working as a nurse.

des
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Old May 16th 2007, 12:22 pm
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

That's not too bad then. Don't have a job offer yet so no salary to compare to. Just heard it commented on a few times the difference in salaries but need to see for myself I suppose.
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Old May 16th 2007, 12:59 pm
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Originally Posted by fiona021
That's not too bad then. Don't have a job offer yet so no salary to compare to. Just heard it commented on a few times the difference in salaries but need to see for myself I suppose.
hi all

forgot to mention that was the salary for an rpn2 year 5 in victoria and salary sacrifising is fantastic for tax purposes. cant wait to resign from the nhs on july 1 and rejoin the hopspital in melbourne on a permanent bases.


all the best to those who are making the move for me it was so good that i worked those 2 months i was in melbourne i got first hand experiance on the workings of forensic mental health in victoria.(work in forensic here in london hence not much of a difference still strong emphasis on risk assessment/security/meds/therapies both sides) i just went with an open mind without thinking about comparing. just a few differences in meds but most psychotropic mes are the same worldwide generally so it was easy to adapt.

all the best

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Old May 16th 2007, 1:13 pm
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

from what I have figured out, I think it is nurses who have a senior role or have been qualified for a long time who will see the biggest difference in pay. For me, qualified 51/2 years there isnt going to be much difference. In fact, with salary sacrificing I might be a little better off.
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Old May 16th 2007, 6:04 pm
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

its good to hear a lot of positives about nursing in Oz, to me nursing is nursing, I decided to be a nurse because I want to look after people and wherever you are a nurse in the world you do that! Ultimately I want to move to Oz because I loved it when I was there on a working visa - It is a much better way of life!

It will take some getting used to I'm sure but its exciting! bring it on!
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Old May 18th 2007, 11:37 am
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Hello,

I haven't been on here for a little while but just read this so thought I would give you my pennies worth too.....

I work in Sydney in a small level 4 hospital in theatres. The main difference that I have found since coming to work here is that besides the different names for drugs (and instruments as I am a scrub/scout nurse) I have found that the trust is more willing to push us further with regards to education.

We are entitled to 5 days study per year and our trust pays for us to go onto these study days. They have a large variety of subjects in house as well as supporting staff to go on external courses. Everyone is encouraged to attend seminars and conferences.

Within theatres we are definitely ruled by our governing body ACORN and abide to their standards, whereas in the UK we used the NATN standards as guidelines....

The work is the same for me although sometimes I feel I am losing my autonomy somewhat because of all the rules and policies (I am a big believer that patients do not become ill according to policies so therefore we cannot always nurse them according to policies)....

However, over all I love it here as I think I came here for more than just a career move...It was a total lifestyle change.
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Old May 18th 2007, 2:25 pm
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Just wanted to say thankyou to everyone who has replied to my thread. Its great to hear everyones experiences. I have almost got everything together now to apply for the anmc skills assessment so hopefully not long now until the process starts!!
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Old May 20th 2007, 8:19 am
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Originally Posted by ozzieclare2b
are there great differences between practices here in the uk and in oz?? i was told they dont have hcas and the ratio of staff to patients is alot smaller.

Also how feasable would it be to only work a certain shift pattern say nights??

Would love to hear peoples experiences xx clare
Salary to cost of living for QLD works out more or less the same as UK, swings and roundabouts that's if you haven't taken a large grade chop. Depends also on how much you want to spend and at least you don't have to spend shed loads escaping to the sun.

Aussies are advanced in some things and behind in others. In QLD the EN's have what would be more of a Aux Nurse role in UK and the Wardies or a cross between an Aux Nurse and a porter but seem to spend most time portering.


Originally Posted by rumbletum
Hi Clare

I work in paediatrics in a large teaching hospital in Sydney and I love it. Have been working there for two years. I did find it a little daunting at first but soon settled into it, to be honest, the difference for me was that I came from a neonatal unit (Birmingham Childrens Hosp) to a general paeds ward and therefore my knowledge base was very specific. I have found all my colleagues fantastic to work with, many of them are English girls anyway, and we have a great working environment.
Everyone has coffee and lunch breaks.. regardless of how busy we are, it is considered a very important part of the day! I used to work 11hr nightshifts and sometimes didnt get a break!
Many of the drugs we use are just the same although as someone else said a lot of them are supplied in brand name form as opposed to generic eg, we get Panadol instead of Paractemol and Losec instead of omperazole, that sort of thing... i have found it easy to fit in, the medical staff are fine, there are no slaves, we work as a team, although maybe some of the consultant paediatricians are a bit high and mighty but then I think you find that everywhere with some doctors, but generally the ones on the shop floor ie the registrars and residents etc are great and we work together for the wellbeing of all the children.
I work in a large 24 bedded unit with an HDU and 10 single rooms where all the children have ensuite facilities and tvs in the room, in fact every bed has a tv and the children do not pay for these facitlities. The ward is very spacious, air conditioned, has teenagers day room, a play room for the younger ones and even a fairy garden, recently built with real trees and piped music ! And to top it all, each room on one side of the ward has views of the Harbour Bridge...
With regard to salary, I am a CNS (of which there are many on the ward), once you are RN8 you can apply for clinical nurse specialist and each year you must re-submit research etc to be awarded points in order to keep the grading. I have not found much difference in my salary and find that because the standard of living is much cheaper here, that my wages actually go further anyway..... it doesnt cost much to keep the kids entertained .. an ice cream on the beach, loads of coastal walks, parks etc... i think we spent a lot more in an weekend in England than we tend to do here.
I started work by joining the casual pool at the hospital and ssaid that i would work in the NICU or paeds... i had so much work that I asked if they had anything permanent. They actually didnt at the time but put me on a temporary contract for three months which they then made permanent without me even knowing !
I think like others have said, nursing is pretty much the same the world over... go into it with your eyes open, take the bad with the good and try to keep positive. You will have days where you will want to compare and think its better back home.. but hey if you think it is, then you could always do some research and make changes!
I love my work here, I loved my work in Birmingham, good luck in whatever you decide to do Clare, I really hope it all works out for you!
Heather
That sounds much more complicated than QLD you would be a Nurse Practitioner here for that much hassle.

Originally Posted by tracey.d
Bloomin Heck! I don't think I'll be applying for that then, I hate presentations. Good for you if you can do it
Plenty of jobs around pick and choose till you get the one you want and don't feel you have to stay with the first pick.
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Old May 23rd 2007, 11:58 am
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

My wage has dramatically dropped,but there are other compensations , some times I can have morning tea sat by the side of the ocean or by a river side!wonderful.
You certainly dont come here to work for fantastic salaries but the lifestyle is much better.
The one thing I have noticed is that some of the Ozzie nurses seem to be occupied with is RN/EN differences but other than that i have found the Ozzie Nurses welcoming and helpful.Good luck to you all.
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Old May 23rd 2007, 9:51 pm
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Default Re: nursing in oz, whats it actually like??

Originally Posted by helen/andy
My wage has dramatically dropped,but there are other compensations , some times I can have morning tea sat by the side of the ocean or by a river side!wonderful.
You certainly dont come here to work for fantastic salaries but the lifestyle is much better.
The one thing I have noticed is that some of the Ozzie nurses seem to be occupied with is RN/EN differences but other than that i have found the Ozzie Nurses welcoming and helpful.Good luck to you all.
Not that you can tell who the EN's are as they all where the same uniform....

Quite agree it's nice to have breakfast in the warmth and to be able to look out on nice view.
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