I’m very lucky to work in a hospital with computerised charting and Physician Order Entry. I have to say that it has taken time to adjust to medication administration. Firstly, many of the medications have different names. Some have the same generic names, but different brand names. Others have completely different names and after quite a bit of searching, I have been able to find the American name for the medication. I’ve caught myself smacking my own forehead when I finally put 2 and 2 together and realised that this is a medication, I’ve been administering for years.

Examples:

Levophed = Noradrenaline

Nitroglycerin = GTN or glyceryl trinitrate

Metoprolol = Metoprolol (Thanks Goodness this one is the same)

Insulin = Actrapid

Tylenol = Panadol

Advil = Nurofen

Phenergan is the same, but pronounced fe –NER- gan

Secondly, medications are often delivered by the pharmacist to the patient’s room. Each patient, in my hospital, has a locked drawer in their room. Their everyday medications are kept in this drawer. Although some stock is kept in the medication room, it’s not all inclusive of the meds you would administer on a given day.

I haven’t seen nor heard of a Pyxis since I’ve been here. Man, do I miss the Pyxis. Heck, I’d even take an Omnicell at this point. Narcotics, known as S8 and S4 medications are in a safe behind locked doors. To sign out these medications, two nurses are needed because two signatures are required. We count the S8 drugs at 0700 and 1900 in the Intensive Care Unit.

Thirdly, the frequencies are different, but just different enough to make it difficult to remember.

BID = BD

Every Morning = Mane

They write medications as 4^th hourly instead of q4.

It truly is the little things that can add stress, but it is stress that is easily overcome.

 

This is a bung. It’s simply an IV cap. It took me almost 5 weeks to remember the correct word because I swear I blocked it out. 

 

 

 

So you want to be a nurse in Australia and you have no clue where to start?

It’s not as hard as many think. When I first decided to come to Australia, I was really concerned about the registration process. I surfed the web and was left quite confused.

Eventually I found my way to AHPRA.gov.au.

Australia Health Practitioner Regulation Agency is where you should start.

This is how you “get registered” as a nurse in Australia. This really only means you are being licensed as a Registered Nurse in Australia. If you review the Registration and Endorsement tab, you can find information for Internationally Qualified Nurses.

If you meet the qualifications, you can apply for registration.

I found the application for wasn’t too difficult to fill out, but it can be time consuming.

You will need letters from every employer from the past five years. The letter must be on company letter head and it must specifically speak to Full Time status and the length of time you have worked for the company. I was a travel RN at the time of my registration and was required to get a letter from the manager of my current assignment. Although I had a letter from my travel company, I still needed the letter from my manager. If you have been with the same travel company for the five years, you’ll need only two letters.

You will also need letters of recommendation, transcripts from your nursing program, and a letter from your nursing program detailing your clinical hours.

The most important thing to remember is to be very specific.

I sent my application to the Sydney office in early August and my application wasn’t reviewed until late October. When it was reviewed, I received an email stating what was required.

Each requirement was listed as a bullet point and had the specifics that AHPRA wanted included. Even though I ticked every point, I received another email stating additional information was required. This is very typical. It takes about 6 months to become registered.

Once you have registration, there are several nursing/healthcare recruitment agencies. Currently, there are no travel positions being offered in Australia due to changes in immigration laws.

If you are 18-30 years old, you can come to Australia on a Work/Holiday visa and stay for up to 1 year. If you are older, you have to apply for a work visa. Nurses can get a skilled visa (457 visa) and can stay for up to 4 years. However, the age limit is 50 years old.

Many hospitals will sponsor work visas.

If you want to come to Australia, take the chance. It is so worth it.

I haven’t done much writing over the past year. I’ve been so tied up with wedding plans and getting used to Nursing in Australia, but I know I need to get back to my passion. 

So I’m going to use this site to answer the numerous questions about what it is like to live in Australia and how it may be different than being a nurse in the U.S.

I’m also going to post photographs of my adventures in this beautiful country.