[NurseNikki]

Hi Guys,

My name is Nikki and I live and work in Australia. I work in the emergency department of a large private hospital in Melbourne.

I'm looking forward to hitting the forums and reading about other nurses experiences.

Nikki

[cougarnurse]

Welcome to the Forums, Nikki! Glad to have you with us. I hope you drop by often, as I would love to hear about "The Land Down Under".

How long have you been a nurse?

'Cat'

[NurseNikki]

Hi Cat,

I have been a nurse for a little over a year. I was kind of a late starter, but I'm glad I finally "followed by calling". I'm new to the ER, having just moved from Agency nursing, where I worked in many different areas (including the ER). to now being based full time in just the ER. It's an exciting time for me as my passion is critical care/trauma nursing.

I stumbled upon this site last night, it looks like a great place.

Nikki

[MRS. ERNURSE]

Hello to land down under!

Are the ER's in Australia very busy and backed up as they are here? Not enough staff and LOTS of work???? patient's woho really could have seen the doctor during the day but because they have their free treatment card (m.cal) find it more convenient to stop by in the ER. I'm curiuos if medicine is practiced any different there...we're not allowd to turn anyone away, it's the law and no matter how many patient's we have and how little stffing we must stay open. What is it like working in Australia's emergency room?

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ernurse

[NurseNikki]

Hi MrsEnurse,

Er's in Australia are very busy, yes. We too have staffing problems which makes for lots of work. Our staffing problems come from poor pay rates. My state has the lowest wages for nurses, which means that a lot of them move to different states to get better pay. We are about to head into a federal election which will (hopefully) change all that.

As with all ER's we have your share of patients who come in with 'unresolved pain for the past 3 weeks' etc, and your normal frequent visitors. The ER I work in is a private one, so that tends to cut them down a little. Also, people who try to use the ER like a 24 hour doctors surgery are automatically triaged as a cat 5 (the least severe) which means they get seen last. Nothing like a 6 hour wait in the waiting room to cure that!

We also don't turn people away. The health care system is a little different over here in that we have a public health system (Medicare) that everybody has access to, no exceptions. If you go to hospital as a medicare , or public patient, there are no charges whatsoever. Everything is covered from the dr bill down to bandages and medications.

People also have the option of joining private health cover, which gives you choice of doctor, a private room instead of a shared, and shorter waiting times for elective surgery. The fees you pay for private health insurance are tax deductible. To fund the Public Health System, everyone pays 1% of their tax to it, each year.

The ER I work in is part of a private hospital, so if someone has health insurance, there are no charges, but if you attend our ER with no insurance, there will be out of pocket expenses.

I hope that answers some of your questions, feel free to ask more

Nikki

[MRS. ERNURSE]

Thank you for your response. Er here is a lot like that. In California, there are MANY people on what we have is medical. There are some that actually need it abut most just are life's sorry excuse for "there is no one hiring, I can't find a job", meaning No one will interview them from their couch position or allow them to be off on weekends or get instantly paid big bucks with no education . These are our frequent flyers, ER clinic patients...free access to medical attention....the ones that clog up our ER with lame things like a 2am spider bite (no redness) or I ran out of my pain medication: I wear clonidine patch, I'm on methadone 6 times a day.....oh I could go on. Nures here in California average $25-$35 per hr. if you are staff and depending on experience. Travel makes about $35-$45 per hr. What is the average pay there (in US $) in Australia?

Gotta go now, I'm on my way to work (I work 7p-7a).

Thanks again,
Theresa Satton
Teh, CA