Arbrodin

Hi Maria, I know it's seems a very pointless exercise, 81 pages ago I started this thread due to the frustration I was having, I am in the same boat as you in terms of training, I started my training in 1989, the hospital had its own school of nursing, no diploma or degree courses in them days. I am also RNLD trained which is an even bigger spanner in the works. although I could not get a transcript from my training school, it disappeared in the 90's, the NMC were able to send the syllabus for my course over. This seemed to be accepted at first.. timescales with AHPRA are amazing, I applied in August 2013, well before the changes were brought in, they held my application back and they are assessing me under the new criteria! other issues with them are that when diploma nurses came out, we were encouraged to do a diploma in an clinical area, so I completed mine in Epilepsy Care, as degree nursing developed, we looked at doing degrees and I completed my MSc in Sleep Medicine with distinction for me which again is another clinical area. APHRA in their wisdom do not think these will be taken into account, as neither say Nurse or Nursing in the title, however, I am on my third or fourth extension now, as I keep pushing and I have got to provide yet a third lot of info on my MSc. I still think this is a pointless exercise, despite 25 years experience in the nhs. I will keep going to the end, but have resigned myself to not being registered and not being able to move to Aus. I have since moved from adult LD to another job I paediatrics, working in mainstream and across LD children's services, I had to do something to pick me up off the floor. My new job is great and given me a new challenge, which moving was all about too! having secured a job which was held open for me for a year, had family so somewhere to live and being ready to go some 12-18 months ago apart from APHRA, To say I am frustrated with it all, is an understatement, so with no diploma nurses being registered us traditional nurses need to jump thro more hurdles!! Paul

Hi All, my my wait seems endless, having sent my application in mid August, now mid January I emailed again for an update and got the following response Dear Paul Unfortunately I am unable to provide you with any further updates. We are still waiting for further instructions from the Nursing & Midwifery Board regarding the assessment process for applications for registration for overseas trained nurses and midwives. I will contact you as soon as we are advised. wonder if I will ever receive a LOE Paul

Hi, I have had an email this week as below, I find it difficult to believe that having received my documents in August, that they want me to submit further information, they want further info on my Masters degree, as I was only able to submit results at the time and have since attended my graduation. They also want me to document when I trained, when I completed my diploma and then degree, this is because I was trained pre diploma and degree nursing programmes and had to keep pace as it were, with students education. Paul I would recommend at this point that if you are willing to submit further information to AHPRA it will be added to your application when it is considered by our Registration Committee. Could you please also include your explanation regarding your education pathway that you have provided in your recent email in a cover letter when you submit the documents?

Hi All, Further emails to and from APHRA below, still no decision as yet, seems a long time since the 12 th August when my documents were first acknowledged. Having gone through the AMNAC process an having my skills assessed as equivalent, now APHRA want to revisit this assessment or so it appears. Does anyone know if this is because my diploma and masters are not in nursing qualification specifically, the diploma being in epilepsy and masters in a medical science. Thanks. Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dear Paul Due to the high volume of overseas applications Australia wide, there is currently no time frame available at this stage for outcomes of internationally qualified Nursing and Midwifery applications. I am unable to comment on the outcomes of other applications submitted. It all comes down to education equivalence to an Australian Bachelor Degree which is part of the assessment process. Please be assured that I am aware of your pending application and will contact you as soon as we have further information regarding the status of your application. Then You are welcome to contact AHPRA with questions at any time. Can I please ask if the Master of Science Degree was specific to nursing? I do not have the delegation to advise if your Master of Science MSc Degree in the medical sciences field could be taken into consideration for your current application for general registration as a Registered Nurse. You are welcome to submit further information/evidence of this qualification to add to your application if you wish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I had to resend the my CV and give cpd evidence, also because my yearly NMC renewal date passed, I had to get the NMC to resend confirmation of registration again! At a cost!

When we came over on holiday, with our 6 and 8 yr old, we did Heathrow to Kuala Lumpa, very short stop, less than an hour I think, then on to Sydney. I think this was better than if we had a longer stop, they coped better than I did, we did try to plan their sleep etc on the journey, and they had plenty to occupy them.

Hi, I know how you feel, I am about a week behind you in APHRA acknowledgement and had to provide further documents which they received in September. I will keep an eye out for your cheer when yours arrives, may keep me positive that mine will not be far behind. Paul

Hi, I started a separate thread on APHRA some time ago, my docs were received mid August and have recently been advised that there is still no timescales for international applications, however someone posted they had received theirs, having applied in July. Frustrating is the word!!

Hi, as I have been in the aphra system since mid august, 4 months since acknowledgement email, is there anyone currently receiving registration confirmation. Is there anyone else who has been waiting this long? Paul

Hi all, I had my documents acknowledged with the Victoria office back in mid August, have had various emails from you will here in the next 2 weeks to you will here in the next 2 days. My latest response to my email asking for a timescale is below. It is not very encouraging!! Paul Dear Mr Andre Thank you for your enquiry. As you are aware the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) and AHPRA are currently reviewing and strengthening the process in place to support the nationally consistent assessment of applications for registration from internationally qualified nurses and midwives (IQNM). Due to the high volume of overseas applications, there is currently no time frame available at this stage for outcomes of internationally qualified Nursing and Midwifery applications. If there is any further information that the Registrations Team requires from you, we will contact you directly as soon as possible.

Hi, has anyone else experienced similar email from APHRA. As you can see from my timeline, my APHRA acknowledgement of receipt of my application was August, I was requested to send an updated cv and transcript of registration, these were both received by APHRA on the 10th September and 25th September. I had an email from APHRA on the27th September saying I would receive an outcome within 7-10 working days. On the 21st October I enquires and got an out of office reply so I emailed enquiries. The reply was I would hear in 2 working days. On Monday of this week I received the email which is copied below. Has anyone else experienced this message or will have had to wait this long in the process. - - - - - - - - - Dear Paul Since you last received correspondence from your registration officer AHPRA and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia have strengthened the processes in how we assess applications. At this stage your application is still currently under review. Once your application has been fully assessed we will be in contact. Please contact us in six weeks for an update on your application if you have not heard from us in the interim. Regards - - - - - - - - Thanks Paul :arghh:

The risks may not be higher but with media they are known about more and quicker, the obvious additions are more ways of carrying this out, online grooming, social media risks etc, it is just important to educate as best you can.

Thanks for the info, we understand the risks, what we would give up here, but I wanted to try to get a balanced view of what to expect, the issues that worry us are not major, but do impact upon some degree of happiness or success for us, my wife would not be happy if she could not work, using childcare is what we have to do here, but use sports and school holiday clubs, hopefully this would be the same. We know it will be hard socially initially and will need work from us. I think it is natural to worry about major life changes and hope that we are no different in this respect than anyone else. in terms of leave, I imagine you adapt to whatever the situation is, luckily I have been healthy and not had a sick day for over 4 years now, holidays are important, but last year we came out to Australia and I virtually used up all my years leave in one go, just had to make the most of weekends and public holidays for the rest of the year. We love our lifestyle now, I read a lot about don't use migration to change an unhappy life and poor lifestyle, quality of life etc, so if we do it we should when we are happy, with a view of positives and negatives. Hopefully that is what you are giving, a balanced view. It may be that we get to the end of the process and stop or we go for it, I guess you never really know until it is a reality and you have to jump one way or the other

No, my wife wants to work and could not imagine not working, that is more of the issue, we are not blinkered we have to use childcare now, occasionally family, but holiday clubs by the school, sports activity clubs etc. no matter how excited or positive we are, and I do not want to be blinded by media views, I guess we will always worry.

thanks, i the closer we get in the process, it is natural to worry, we have no idea how easy or difficult it will be for my wife to find work. We will only move if I have a job to come out to, but that is different for her. As it is, she would change jobs tomorrow, so that is something I guess.

yes, it was a very different world now from the 80's, this was common then, however with the global 24 hr media people are more aware and the risks are heightened. Parenting and laws have changed, maybe not all for the better, but child protection is higher on the agenda in the public domain

Maybe I do, but it is about a balance, there are some 18 yr olds who are mature, problem solvers and emotionally stable to cope with a working holiday in another country, and those who are not, with capacity and consent, at 18 all parents can do is advise, they have no power to prevent. I agree that children should be given as many opportunities to help them to develop, but there will always be a line. Everyone is individual and decisions should be made on this rather than the same rule for everyone. You make a good point though in wrapping your kids up to much.

Hi, we are looking to migrate, I am a nurse, completed AMNAC, waiting for outcome of APHRA then will submit Eoi, following a holiday to visit my sister in Sydney, we were raring to go in the process. What are our concerns that may impact upon moving. 1. My wife is very in dependant, has always worked, as a hca for the NHS for 20 years in different services, adult, child, specialist complex care, if she moves, she will want to work, however, with losing our support for childcare, she will need to be on hand for kids schooling and school holidays. How is she going to be able to find work that fits in with our needs. 2. She will also not want to be dependant financially, she never has been and probably never will, she has always had her own money etc. work is important. 3. Is lifestyle better in Australia than in Britain, you hear so much about a better quality of life for families, is this true, work life balance, a better place to bring up kids. It is not about earning more money for us. 4. Socially, I am guessing I will gain a social circle with work colleagues, she will need to find a way to,do this, hopefully through links with the children etc, is this a reality. it is such a big life changing decision, maybe I have been reading to many negative posts on the forums, peoples views would be gratefully received. Paul

I have to say it is very difficult situation, as much as I feel desperate for the family, I do not know anyone who would while on holiday in a foreign country, put their children to bed and go out to a bar, out of sight of the apartment. Especially the ages of the children, the youngest ones being about 1 yrs. then to hear that on previous nights this happened and one of the children asked their mum where she was when she had woken up, the following day. Hindsight is a great thing, however, hoe many parents would really do this. I would not leave my children in bed at home and go out let alone when on holiday in a strange country. Maybe working in the NhS and experience of the child protection and adult safeguarding issues, I am over cautious with my own children.

I guess if anything, IMO a rise in line with inflation would be the ideal, 1% is in reality a decrease which is what we have had! to take that away is disappointing. When I started nursing back in the late 80's there were no university training, a nurse education school within the hospital, when diploma nursing was introduced, we were all encouraged to remain in line with students and complete a diploma, same again with degree nursing courses, and I have now completed my masters. I have seen everything from poor practice, bullying, low morale and stress/injury in colleagues, I count myself lucky that wherever I have worked and at every level, I have loved my job, despite being assaulted, abused, seen staffing levels fall, services reduced to the detriment of the patients and the reality that the managers do not care or value staff and that money is more important across all public services. Money is definitely not high up on the nurses agenda, but a lack of valuing those who work in the nhs and public services will eventually cause some kind of response. There is a high percentage of nurses who are approaching retiring, in the teams I work, about 50% of colleagues have 5 years or less, if new, young and enthusiastic people are to be welcomed in to the public services/nhs, pay, terms and conditions need not be chipped away and reduced, we will all need to have care at some stage, so let's have the best. There is no doubt that in private care there is good and bad, but where it is done as cheaply as possible, the outcomes for the patients are not great, as they say, you get what you pay for!!

Thanks Incata and Tina2, its good to get a balance from the different threads on pio. I have to say that we spoke to families who are friends with my sister when we were out there, their kids did lots of activities and I was surprised at how many things that were available were free, we currently pay for tqd, tennis, swimming and cricket, rugby is free at our local club, they mountain bike which is free too obv. There just seemed a more family orientated feel to where we were, no pub culture, no groups of kids hanging around bored and reading the local paper a very different crime profile. The area was clean and people not only had a pride in being Australian but cared about where they lived. This is a very different picture to that you get all over the UK. When I look at the young in the UK, the area I live etc, I often worry what it will be like for my kids, poor ish area, unemployment and opportunities, there is no harm in looking for a better life for them, and there is both ends of the spectrum on pio. That said, you are right, I take on board what people say and am uncertain due to the enormity of the decision and scale of life change. However, it is now or it will never happen. Paul. I also would never move without securing employment, and have spoken to prospective employers.

Thanks guys for the replies Britpop, Verystormy and Legoman, any thoughts and advice would be welcome, positives and negatives, i have to say that areas such as Devon and Cornwall while lovely areas disappointed me very much when on holiday, the towns particularly not looking much different from many others and great when the weather is good but when the weather was poor, not easy to find great stuff for the family, my opinion of course. With no family in that area, the need for work, social circle etc would be just as hard. We do love living where we are now, we are within walking distance of an area of outstanding beauty, walk, mountain bike and dog walk there, the kids do sporting activities 6 nights a week. This is not a move to a nicer area because we are unhappy. when my sister worked in the uk for 3 years contract, about 4 years ago, she lived for a good period of that time with us when she moved over from Oxford, which was a picturesque village full of thatched cottages, my sister hated the time she was back in the uk apart from the time with us, however lonely she has been at times in Oz, she would not return and has been the main pulling force for us to first visit on holiday and then to ask us to move over to live with her. As a family we loved our holiday, I did some visiting of connections from my masters course to discuss employment opportunities and get an account of work life balance from them too. We wanted a new and different experience of life, working in the nhs would be similar wherever in the uk, a new lifestyle for us and the kids, near to the sea, we are not city people and would not want to be in Aus. This is the only chance we would ever have of doing this kind of thing, my last chance due to my age so if not now then it would be never. I have been reading the posts of the people who did it, not worked for them and moved back and the reasons, then the posts from people who say don't do it because you are unhappy with your life. Well as a family we are happy with our lives, our jobs, the kids are happy with school and after school activities. Does this mean we should not try, are we mad? The work it has taken to get this far and the amount of hoops still left to jump, means it is not deadline decision day yet, but still want to go for it.

Hi, great thread. I just wondered how most people coped with the decision making to emigrate. So far I have read, you should not emigrate because you are unhappy and think it will be the be all and end all, suddenly make your life better, also that you should not,if you are happy and have a good life in the uk. I am in the process of applying. i think in the uk we are happy, we have good jobs, friends etc, we are not well off but live to our means and do most things we want to that are in our means, eg through the school holidays they have done loads, mostly local free or quite reasonable activities which they have loved. The kids are happy at school, they do lots of activities out of school to the point they only have one day without an activity. We stretch ourselves to make sure they have the opportunities to experience as many activities, sports etc as possible. we live in quite a poor socio-economic area in the midlands and we do worry about their eduction and prospects and also socially growing up, I know there are no certainties with regards to peer groups etc. I have family in Aus, my sister has been out there for about 15 yrs, had a short period of a couple of years back in the uk two or three years back and returned to Aus vowing not to come back, we visited this year, she thinks the lifestyle is better, it is better for families and ESP for children. We loved our holiday, and that is what it was, but it gave me a real yearning to move out. The outdoor lifestyle, the weather, maybe more family orientated and maybe a safer place for the kids - maybe? The kids are too young to really understand the full consequences of moving, the wife seems to fluctuate depending on the process, timescales are long at each stage, I am very positive but have lots of worries, in terms of what if it goes wrong, the effect on the family and kids, starting from scratch etc. I would love to live by the sea with better weather all round, we have the benefit of being able to move in with my sister who live near Sydney. I would not move without a job and only on a pr. Such a scary decision, but one we are keen to make despite the concerns. As this thread has been interesting does anyone have any thoughts on my situation? Thanks. Paul

Hi, I have just received email confirmation that my APHRA application form and supporting documents have arrived, the application date is the 12/08, in the email it states there is no timescale due to the high volume of applications, is there anyone in the process of obtaining registration and how long did they currently wait. Thanks. Paul

What do I need to know or do for the 190 visa, anyone had any experience of this for NSW, Thanks