HI THERE :D :D :D :D :D
can anyone help, this is my first post,
i'm trying to convince my wife to go to OZ.
we have a fab house & location here on the river clyde,(scotland)fab views,etc,and it would be very difficult to get back again,
she has her reservations,naturally,would only consider it if quality of life there would be better than here.
we're in our late 30s 2 kids 8 & 6
i'm a joiner, run my own home improvement biz
wife is a specialist nurse, stroke prevention/cardiac rehab
she's worried about having to start lower down the scale
and doing shift work again,and trying to organise kids,school,house,etc
what kind of shift patterns do they work,at the moment she works 9-2.30 mon-fri,
would she have to start back on the wards etc,
do the hospitals advertise/headhunt these kind of positions to brits,or would she have to start lower down.
any info would be great,especially you mums out there.
me, i've always wanted to go,
would start back on sites if i had too,
then take it from there.
I came out here from sunny ayrshire myself 3 and a half years ago. i am a registered nurse. To begin with I worked for a agency which was a shock to my system as I hadn't done any ward work for 4 years prior to applying. Although I did go and work on the wards at the weekends to brush up my skills before we left. I had been working in a projects management position before that so probably didn't have the same marketable skills as your wife. There are posts for specialist nurses in Australia. Check out seek.com.au for nursing positions. Lots of good around and the nursing boards sites have good advice. Australia has a shortage of nurses and i am sure your wife would quickly find her skill in great demand. I worked for the Red Cross Blood service for a few years which at the time was mon-friday and the hours were good. Depending where your wife works will depend on the shifts, there are a lot more private clinics here so more 9-5 jobs for nurses than there seemed to be in the UK. I have now left nursing for a while, but that's what got us here. I did initially take a drop in wages, but soon caught up once I had enough experience in Australia. The lifestyle here is great, we spent the first 3years in Perth which is an awesome place to live and fabulous for kids. the opportunties here are so much more than the UK, people are positive and genuinely glad to see people succeeding in their life. A refreshing change from the negative attitudes of a lot of people in Scotland. The weather makes a huge difference, we all feel better when it's sunny and it sure is sunny a lot more here than in Ayrshire....lol. As a joiner you would get plenty of work too, especially in Perth, the economy there is booming and they are building so many houses they ran out of bricks about 18 months ago!!
We love it here, it has been a positive move for us, we have one son who's nearly 5. We consider ourselves Aussie's now and have embraced the Australian life. I had worked in the sme hospital for 13 years before we left, so went from knowing just about everyone to knowing no one, that was hard but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger eh!
Hi guys,
You both sound like you have trades very desirable to the Aussie economy. They are both occupations in demand as far as I know.
I'm a registered nurse also and found it incredibly easy to get sponsored and there was also plenty of agency work. When I arrived I backpacked around Oz and NZ and just made telephone enquiries at all the big city hospitals whose response was "When could you start?" However this was 4 years ago and things may hve changed. Ironically the hospital I'm at now is the only one in Australia that turned me down initially. But this was because it's such a great place to work they have a low turnover of staff and run at their full complement of staff for most of the time with no recruitment issues. So I tried doing some ageny there, got my face known and was offered a post fairly quickly. If you'd consider Perth then I'd highly recommend WANA (West Australian Nursing Agency). No use to you if in any other state though.
Agency work is fine but I made the choice to find permanent employment as I wanted to be in one place to form friendships and be part of a team.
Now this is only my personal experience but having come from the NHS I found working in the private sector (as agency)a big challenge. Working as a collaborative team with the doctors doesn't happen nearly as easily here. However, the consultants at my public hospital are all very good and show a healthy respect for all members of the health care team, and this attitude from the top is what influences each level down I find.
I also found it frustrating that things I took for granted in public hospitals such as a full crash team for CPR, availablity of important drugs/equipment/pathology services, and senior medical staff on-site 24hrs do not always exist in private hospitals. A big impact on patient care I'm sure your missus will agree.
The shift systems vary between hospitals. Most agency shifts are 07.00 til 13.00 or 15.00 til 2130. Permanent staff on wards and in clinics tend to do slightly longer shifts but still a mixture of earlies and lates. More acute areas OT, ER and ICU offer an optional 12hr shifts pattern. I gather most places are pretty flexible with part-time/full time hours offered although she may be committed to working full-time for the first two years to fulfill visa obligations if your wife ends up the main applicant.
Can't answer the pay question as I found that although I earned less in Oz when converted into pounds I still had a better quality of life. I could NEVER have afforded to live in a nice area in the UK as I do here.
Feel free to PM me for further info.
Good luck
Louise
Hi guys,
You both sound like you have trades very desirable to the Aussie economy. They are both occupations in demand as far as I know.
I'm a registered nurse also and found it incredibly easy to get sponsored and there was also plenty of agency work. When I arrived I backpacked around Oz and NZ and just made telephone enquiries at all the big city hospitals whose response was "When could you start?" However this was 4 years ago and things may hve changed. Ironically the hospital I'm at now is the only one in Australia that turned me down initially. But this was because it's such a great place to work they have a low turnover of staff and run at their full complement of staff for most of the time with no recruitment issues. So I tried doing some ageny there, got my face known and was offered a post fairly quickly. If you'd consider Perth then I'd highly recommend WANA (West Australian Nursing Agency). No use to you if in any other state though.
Agency work is fine but I made the choice to find permanent employment as I wanted to be in one place to form friendships and be part of a team.
Now this is only my personal experience but having come from the NHS I found working in the private sector (as agency)a big challenge. Working as a collaborative team with the doctors doesn't happen nearly as easily here. However, the consultants at my public hospital are all very good and show a healthy respect for all members of the health care team, and this attitude from the top is what influences each level down I find.
I also found it frustrating that things I took for granted in public hospitals such as a full crash team for CPR, availablity of important drugs/equipment/pathology services, and senior medical staff on-site 24hrs do not always exist in private hospitals. A big impact on patient care I'm sure your missus will agree.
The shift systems vary between hospitals. Most agency shifts are 07.00 til 13.00 or 15.00 til 2130. Permanent staff on wards and in clinics tend to do slightly longer shifts but still a mixture of earlies and lates. More acute areas OT, ER and ICU offer an optional 12hr shifts pattern. I gather most places are pretty flexible with part-time/full time hours offered although she may be committed to working full-time for the first two years to fulfill visa obligations if your wife ends up the main applicant.
Can't answer the pay question as I found that although I earned less in Oz when converted into pounds I still had a better quality of life. I could NEVER have afforded to live in a nice area in the UK as I do here.
Feel free to PM me for further info.
Good luck
Louise
