ICU nurse working in Sydney.

How do you like Australia?

Australia is really great! I really love it and life is good here in Sydney! I've also enjoyed my work in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. I moved over from Ireland with my husband and daughter in 2009. My daughter is in school (year four now) and the school is really close by. My husband is working in a catering firm. We are all really happy with our life here, and the climate is fantastic! We have good friends here also.  We moved here from Ireland, and I liked it over there as well - all but the weather. I don't have anything to complain about - we're really happy.

Coming to Australia:

We really didn't have any problems with moving over and settling in. Someone from Professional Connections came to greet us at the airport when we arrived, which facilitated our arrival. We stayed the first week with our friends, who helped us to find our own accommodation. We actually saw our flat two days after arrival, and they told us right away that we got it - so that was very quick and easy to find a new home. 

I found that in addition to finding a new home, sorting out other practical matters was really easily done as well. I had some friends living over here who helped me with things like opening a bank account. They also took us to Medicare (Australia's publicly funded universal health care service for all resident citizens and permanent residents) to sign up. We got the Medicare cards the next day, so this was easy as well. My husband got his local driver's license the next day as well - he already had a license from Dublin, so it was easy. Everything went really well.

Hospital:

I got a really warm welcome in the hospital. I started my work in the ICU by attending a group orientation for four days. And there was additional training after a month. I wasn't working in the ICU prior to Sydney. I worked on the cardiology ward before. So for the first week on the ward, I was together as a supernumerary with a senior staff member. After this I started to work on my own, but my colleagues were really great and they all helped me to get started. I really felt welcomed by the friendly atmosphere on my ward. Now I'm a senior nurse and I support my juniors in the same way. Whenever you go to a new place, you really have to learn the new rules and protocols. So this of course takes a little time. I had a lot of new things to learn when I got here; all the new machines, doctors, protocols etc. but everyone was really nice and helped me.

In my opinion nursing is the same everywhere, but things are done a little differently depending on the place. There might be a little different cases also. For example, we had some swine flu cases here that I hadn't come across in my previous work. I've been sent to a lot of different education workshops since I arrived, so I have really learned a lot after coming here. I feel that they truly encourage you to extend your nursing knowledge and continue your education over here. The workshops are normally one-day courses. You can easily continue to do your master's here also. I haven't done this myself, but I might in the future. I'm pregnant at the moment so right now it's not top priority for me. But I have a lot of friends who are doing their masters' currently.

Application process:

I didn't find the application process that difficult. I had my APHRA registration done before signing up with Professional Connections. Celia from Profco was an invaluable help - she was really great! It didn't even take that long - I signed up in June, in July I got a nomination, in August I applied for the PR visa which I received in October. We were really lucky that the process moved on rather fast. I don't like paper work, but I used to call Celia so often to ask about the different parts of the paperwork so I wouldn't make any mistakes. So Celia, Ann and Profco were really a great help throughout the process. I heard of Profco through a friend of mine who lives in Liverpool at the moment. However, before this when I still lived in India I saw an ad for Professional Connections in a newspaper, and was about to apply to go to the UK through Profco. However, I hadn't done my IELTS exam yet, so I didn't go to the interview. So the second time I heard of Professional Connections through my friend, I called the office and asked if I was speaking to the same Ann Griffin that was doing interviews in India some years earlier - and it was! I've been really happy with Profco and have recommended it to many of my friends! I found Profco a really good agency and everyone there was so helpful throughout my application process. I have really had a good experience.

Words of wisdom to nurses thinking about Australia:

I'd tell them "warm welcome - Australia is a great place to work"! I'm saying this from my own experience. My family and I have been very happy. I'm a Catholic and we have a church nearby. Everything is really near, and we have everything we need. We haven't saved up for a house yet, but we have a car and a nice flat. Sydney is rather an expensive city, but I can't complain really. We live about six or seven kilometres away from the hospital. If you move away from the centre, it gets cheaper the further you are from the centre.

Dec 2011