Kathleen

My nursing qual is only Dip-He, but I am registered with AHPRA, and completed assessment I hold PR visa, I had to certify all additional studies and froward these, I had to send a date order list of all subjects studied since I qualified in Jan 2001, it was a nightmare putting in order, but I have been registered two ears with AHPRA and 14 years with NMC.

Hi folks, I'm new to this forum so please be gentle. This may seem long-winded but please bear with me...

 

I've seen plenty of threads discussing AHPRA with lots of puzzled/frustrated applicants so I thought I would gain as much information from them prior to siphoning our bank account on an application. I wanted to help others with my findings too - hence, this new thread. Here goes...

 

I've been having a "discussion" with AHPRA (and other users) on Twitter regarding my wife and her potential registration.

 

My wife has a Dip-He in Adult Nursing and five years post-grad experience (qualified 2009) in Stroke & ICU - Critical Care. We "were" intending to emigrate on a temporary visa and then go for permanent a couple of years later. However, with the recent "assessment" changes (in October 2013, implemented Feb 2014), AHPRA want Australian Degree qualified nurses (or equivalent to Level 7 on the AQA framework scale)... I guess you all know the drill there.

 

Anyway, back to my twitter discussion...

 

I have raised the question (more than once) why a Dip-He qualification and five years experience is no longer sufficient and their reply is the usual IQNMs are the way forward and working experience is not part of their assessment (feel free to check my Twitter feed). Therefore, the Dip-He will probably be classified as a Level 5 on the AQA scale - So no luck there.

 

I questioned how a newly qualified nurse (with a degree) with no working experience could possibly be viewed as a better candidate for registration over someone with five years experience. I'm still waiting for an adequate response to that one.

 

In addition, a tweet from AHPRA to another twitter user states the NMBA does NOT accept ANMACs assessments for registration purposes. When ANMAC say a Dip-He is equivalent to Australian Degree it means absolutely nothing to AHPRA for registration (just like the song - Oh Vienna).

 

I've also raised the question if the UK & Australia have reciprocal healthcare agreements for tourists, which they currently do then why is it ok for an Australian national to be treated in the UK but if the nurse (with a Dip-HE) treating the Australian national decides to apply to AHPRA, s/he is basically incompetent. The intellectual at AHPRA didn't quite grasp my point.

 

In conclusion...

 

1. Dip-He nurses - You're not welcome, seriously! Save yourself the fees ($520)

 

2. AHPRA does not currently acknowledge ANMACs assessments. Save yourself the $900 assessment fee.

 

3. If you have a Dip-He and want to "top-up" to a Degree, I guess you'll need to fund it yourself. Don't be surprised to be quoted around £2,700 in the UK or even more on an Australian "Bridging Program".

 

4. The only valid reason to be assessed by ANMAC is for the extra 10-15 points for the permanent visa application. However, if you've still "only" got a Dip-He, the assessment still won't gain AHPRA registration. If you're happy with that, good luck to you.

 

5. If you've a Dip-He, don't bother with the English test because even if you were to score 10's, your Dip-He qualifications aren't good enough (save £125 there).

 

Taking into consideration all of the above points, we are saving just over £3,500 by not bothering. That's excluding the Visa fees, medicals, flights...

 

Until things change... Good luck Australia in filling those nursing posts.

 

Paddy.

 

P.s I've nothing against degrees. If you've got one... Fantastic, genuinely, well done, I know how difficult it is. My gripe here is against common sense and people being ripped off.