Paige03 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Does anyone know if/how these work in Australia? I am a children's nurse (degree) and work as a health visitor (pgd at masters). Hoping to move to Adelaide but there are never any child and family health nurse jobs advertised. I was thinking about maybe re-training as a mental health nurse as I have gained lots of experience of this through health visiting. Do Australian universities offer a conversion course, which is hopefully shorter than a standard degree. I have had a look at the Flinders website but it is a bit confusing. Any ideas anyone?? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patphillips47 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Have you looked at the Women's and children's hospital ( assuming they have one ) it's on the outskirts of the city and may have more information to child related health Plus look at Cafhs SA might help http://www.cyh.com/SubContent.aspx?p=144 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaia Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Hi Paige, as far as I'm aware Australia doesn't offer conversion courses because they don't have separate branches of nursing, all nurses qualify as rn, and specialise post grad. All nurses can apply for jobs in psych, paeds etc and I know nurses who have gone from psych to paeds and vice versa. I think the issue may be that if your degree is in children's nursing Ahpra will register you with the notation that you can only work in the paediatric environment. There is a real demand for nurses in the psychiatric area though, any chance you could convert in the uk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becks22 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Does anyone know if/how these work in Australia? I am a children's nurse (degree) and work as a health visitor (pgd at masters). Hoping to move to Adelaide but there are never any child and family health nurse jobs advertised. I was thinking about maybe re-training as a mental health nurse as I have gained lots of experience of this through health visiting. Do Australian universities offer a conversion course, which is hopefully shorter than a standard degree. I have had a look at the Flinders website but it is a bit confusing. Any ideas anyone?? Thanks. Im a mental health nurse awaiting my visa for Adelaide. There are currently jobs being advertised at the hospital mentioned above for working in mental health with women and children. You could e-mail the contact on the jobs and ask them whether they would consider someone with your skills in that setting, then you would know what you options are. Either that or you could go back to childrens nursing and perhaps that will open doors, as once you are "in the system" you will have access to a lot more jobs than we get to see from the UK as they will be internal. What I do know from a visit to the MH facilities at Flinders is that they are crying out for experienced mental health nurses and not for newly qualifieds. I would think you may struggle to get a job without a few years experience as they informed me they have a glut of newly qualified nurses in SA that need to do their transition after qualifying but do not have enough experienced nurses to support them. You would still need to get you DIP from AHPRA for mental health. It seems a long way round and expensive just to possibly increase your job prospects when you have tons of experience in your field. I am expecting to go and have to start at the bottom of the pile. Its unlikely I will start with the kind of job I want and am qualified for. Thats the joys of relocating I suppose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige03 Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 Hi Paige, as far as I'm aware Australia doesn't offer conversion courses because they don't have separate branches of nursing, all nurses qualify as rn, and specialise post grad. All nurses can apply for jobs in psych, paeds etc and I know nurses who have gone from psych to paeds and vice versa. I think the issue may be that if your degree is in children's nursing Ahpra will register you with the notation that you can only work in the paediatric environment. There is a real demand for nurses in the psychiatric area though, any chance you could convert in the uk? Thanks for your reply. I am unable to convert in the UK, I wouldn't be able to afford it at present and would't be able to give up my current job and I have already started my ANMAC assessment under child and family health nurse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige03 Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 Have you looked at the Women's and children's hospital ( assuming they have one ) it's on the outskirts of the city and may have more information to child related health Plus look at Cafhs SA might help http://www.cyh.com/SubContent.aspx?p=144 Thanks! I have already emailed SA Health and they have given me a contact within the women's and children division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige03 Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 Im a mental health nurse awaiting my visa for Adelaide. There are currently jobs being advertised at the hospital mentioned above for working in mental health with women and children. You could e-mail the contact on the jobs and ask them whether they would consider someone with your skills in that setting, then you would know what you options are. Either that or you could go back to childrens nursing and perhaps that will open doors, as once you are "in the system" you will have access to a lot more jobs than we get to see from the UK as they will be internal. What I do know from a visit to the MH facilities at Flinders is that they are crying out for experienced mental health nurses and not for newly qualifieds. I would think you may struggle to get a job without a few years experience as they informed me they have a glut of newly qualified nurses in SA that need to do their transition after qualifying but do not have enough experienced nurses to support them. You would still need to get you DIP from AHPRA for mental health. It seems a long way round and expensive just to possibly increase your job prospects when you have tons of experience in your field. I am expecting to go and have to start at the bottom of the pile. Its unlikely I will start with the kind of job I want and am qualified for. Thats the joys of relocating I suppose! Thanks! Good luck. I am just trying to keep my options open as the child and family health nurse jobs are so sparce. I don't mind starting at the bottom, the bottom end of a nursing salary in Australia is good compared to UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patphillips47 Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Thanks! I have already emailed SA Health and they have given me a contact within the women's and children division. Fingers crossed they might head you in the right direction good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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