Nurse just arrived!

Hello all, just a quick little update!

Arrived late Wednesday night in Adelaide. Flights with Etihad were fine, managed to sleep from Abu Dhabi to Perth for about 6 hours, so all good! I was told in Edinburgh that my bags would go straight through to Adelaide, but then had to collect them in Perth, go through customs and out of the airport, to re-check-in at the Domestic side to fly through to Adelaide. Customs was a laugh. On the in-coming passenger card on the plane, I ticked "migrating permanently to Australia" and thought that would flag me up to customs, and I'd get my stuff checked....Nope, waved through, didn't even go through the bag scanner! So was very quick. I went through the e-passport route, so just had to confirm on a computer that I wasn't carrying any food/plants/wooden items/etc, look at a little camera for a minute, then go get my bags. Easy peasy.

My little rental in Adelaide is lovely, near Seacliff beach. Spent most of Thursday in the city getting stuff sorted out.

New phone with Telstra - my phone died a few months ago in the UK so I had just been using a cheap little thing. Got a new Samsung for $95/month including unlimited calls/texts in Australia, unlimited overseas calls/texts (to mobiles and landlines), and 10gb data.

NAB account opened already before I left the UK so just collected my card. The card does not include a visa debit function, so cant shop online, and considering I'm en route to Alice Springs, thought that would deffo be required! So have an ATM/EFTPOS card just now, and will pick up card with visa debit function next week.

Completed my medicare registration, and got my TFN number (had forgotten it from 2012, but it never changes once you have one).

Then completed my nursing registration with AHPRA.... Went to AHPRA Adelaide, gave them my passport, copy of my 189 visa grant, copy of my boarding pass (from when I arrived in Australia, so Perth as I then got a domestic flight to Adelaide) and a copy of a letter from NAB confirming my Aussie address. They had received my updated COGS from the NMC in the middle of August (as my first had been dated Nov 2015). And that was it. Done. Dusted. I should receive an email within a few days, and then advised it takes 4-6 weeks for certificate to be posted out . No further Fit2Work needed (mine was over 6 months old, dated 7 March 2016) Easiest thing about the whole blooming process!

Happy days, got a week to chill before heading up to Alice Springs to start work. Loving life :tongue:

@stevej knew you were interested in the AHPRA part, at least!

Sounds like you have been busy but good to here everything seems to be working for you.

Cal x

Good for you - enjoy every minute of it Kylie.

B

Hey kylie!

Was actually reading the healthcare student thread again the other day and wondered what you were upto so its nice to heae from you. I posted as scottishstacey then but you prob wont remember me.

Glad to hear you're over there now! Have you got a permanent job in alice springs?

Yup! Nursing in Alice Springs Emergency dept. Should be a tad.....different from the big London hospital I've been working in!

I watched a program about ambulance crew in alice springs, looks interesting!

Alice Springs emergency? You'll be sure of few dull moments even though a small city. Look forward to reading your experiences.

Aw Stacey, I have heard others talking about it, but I can't seem to find an episode online. Sure it will be a bit different, but looking forward to the challenges. And to get back to the Outback again!

Hey kylie!

 

Was actually reading the healthcare student thread again the other day and wondered what you were upto so its nice to heae from you. I posted as scottishstacey then but you prob wont remember me.

 

Glad to hear you're over there now! Have you got a permanent job in alice springs?

Are you no longer scottishstacey?

Are you no longer scottishstacey?

No, i changed my username last year

Hi kyliedonut,

wow fantastic tic it's so good to see it all come together. We are due to land in Perth on 15th October for a 10 reccie. We have appointment with NAB on 17th in subiaco then popping up the same road to Ahpra to finalise registration. We have done a new fit2work just to be safe and have confirmation from case officer and Ahpra central office that new cogs won't be required. After all it will only be 6 months and 4 days old. We are so excited about trip. I'm looking for graduateships in Oz myself as I am due to graduate next year with my MEng in mechanical engineering.

Looks like ire you have arrived just in time for spring. We too are flying with Etihad so good to hear your experience was good. We are taking my sister with us on our visit and staying with her dad whilst there. I have no idea what to expect but starting to try and find some quintessentially British gifts to take especially for the kids.

Keep us posted on how you get on

steve

Ah good, best to be safe rather than sorry, I suppose. That is me registered completely now, so took 3 working days. @stevej I hope you enjoy your reccie when the time comes, not long now! Very exciting.

Yes spring...where the worst storms for 50 years have just hit South Aus! It's not been too bad really, people just forgetting how to drive when it starts to rain. I'm in the city though, the Hills and some coastal/riverbanks haven't been as fortunate.

Just read about Flinders Medical Centre when they lost power yesterday, and their backup generators failed, ICU having to manually ventilate patients and transfer 17 out to other hospitals. And 000 calls went up by 500% yesterday afternoon - certainly a day I'm glad I wasn't working!

@kyliedonut never saw about flinders... What a nightmare.... That will be some clinical incident report.... Good luck in Alice x

OMG ICU nurses worse nightmare! Hats off to those nurses!

2 weeks down in Alice Springs. Enjoying myself! The nursing is very similar to the UK, as is most of the equipment too. The only (big) difference is the pace. I know coming from a crazy London hospital was always going to be a tad slower, but it's surprising how slow - to get people moving up to wards, etc. And need something on a Sunday? Forget about it, nothing is open/completed on a Sunday.

And the population is very different. A lot of Indigenous people present "not feeling quite right", and you do their bloods and it's like eeeeeeeeeek how are you still walking around!?! Lots of supportive staff and a huge push on education which is great. I've never seen such a positive workforce haha! Just simple things, like the hour where you have cross over of shifts during the day is used for teaching sessions or simiulated scenarios. A lot of push towards post-grad education too, which I'm keen on. So all round, pretty delighted with life still

Glad you're having a good time! They did mention about the alcohol on that program i watched about alice springs lol. I wworked in a pub in a area with lots of indigenous people and some sure can put their drink away. Least all the staff are positive! Hope you have many more good months

I;ve still not been able to watch that programme, but I can now imagine what was shown! The paramedics out here are pretty awesome, and similar to the UK, get nothing but grief on the streets!