What made you decide to work as a nurse in Australia?
Nursing is one of those jobs that you can take anywhere in the world to get experience. Australia seemed like as good a place as any to start.

How did you land your new job?
I found a health professional job vacancy site on the internet by google-ing New South Wales e-recruit and applied for a handful of positions. UK and Irish nurses have a good reputation out here for working hard so it wasn’t too difficult to get a job.

And what exactly is it that you do now?
I am a nurse in the emergency department of a hospital in Sydney, looking after people with acute problems like heart attacks or being involved in car crashes to more long term problems like homelessness or helping the older generation who cannot cope in their own homes any longer. I come home with great stories to tell my housemates!

How does nursing in Australia compare to back home?
It was pretty hard to get used to the different drug names as they use brand names intend of the generic names like we do at home. I asked someone if they wanted paracetamol once and they didn’t know what I was talking about! It is also quite behind the UK in nursing technology and research.

How long do you plan to nurse in Australia for? How long can you stay?
I plan to be here for a couple of years, I got sponsored pretty much as soon as I started work so I can stay for four years and then try for residency if I want to. 

Where have you worked so far, and what is your next destination?
I have only worked in Australia but I am planning on doing some work for a charity in Africa at the end of next year, then off to America.

Want to share you best nursing advice for travellers?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, people understand that we do things differently back home. Try and keep your good habits like hand hygiene and infection control. Things aren’t as strict over here which is a nice change but there is proof that clean hands make a big difference.

How does the pay compare to your expectations?
It’s brilliant! I get more than twice as much as I would do at home and my life-style is great. I can afford to eat out and shop, go on holidays and save a big sum too. Nurses can’t do that in the UK.

Any advice for budding nurses to be who are travelling in Australia?
It depends how long you want to stay traveling for. If you are thinking more than six months in one place, definitely get sponsored, you get job security, sick leave and annual leave. If you are here for a good time, not a long time, then agency work is where to go, the money is better and you can pick your days off but they send you all over the city to different hospitals and wards. Don’t forget to see Australia too, make sure you get days off together so you can go on mini breaks.

To look for jobs in Australia, head to tntdownunder.com/jobs