Your Guide to Nursing and Living in Australia with Hca Who Is Healthcare Australia?
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YOUR GUIDE TO NURSING AND LIVING IN AUSTRALIA WITH HCA WHO IS HEALTHCARE AUSTRALIA? Has it been your dream to travel and work around Australia? By working as a HCA nurse, you’ll be able to work across the country or you could base yourself in one place and take time off to travel. HCA is a national healthcare recruitment agency allowing you to work in every State and Territory on casual shifts, permanent/full-time or contract work. HCA works with nurses, doctors, allied health and support workers. HCA have a dedicated International Team who can assist you with everything you need to be work ready when you arrive to Australia! There When you come to Australia won’t be any hold ups once you land Down Under. to work as an Agency Registered Nurse for Healthcare Australia your THIS GUIDE HAS INFORMATION ON: flight to Australia is on us! 1. HCA International Team – what can they do for you? 2. What do I need to organise before I arrive? 3. What is Agency Nursing in Australia? 4. How do I get allocated shifts? 5. eHCA app – Book and manage your shifts at your fingertips 6. Nursing in Australia 7. What you need to do when you first arrive 8. What other work options HCA can offer you? 9. Where should I stay? How can I get around? 10. 20 top things you should experience in Australia 0. HCA INTERNATIONAL TEAM What can they do for you? HCA has their own dedicated International Team who will ensure you are qualified, have the right experience and organise your references. They will discuss and guide you through the various visa options, the AHPRA registration process and what work opportunities best fit your skills and personal circumstances. It’s their role to assist in preparing you as much as possible before you fly out. They have offices based in London, UK and Auckland, NZ to make them more accessible in a convenient time zone. They also have a toll free number for Canadians and Americans. Contact details can be found below! Before you depart for your big journey, the International team will have you set up with an appointment in the location you have chosen to start your adventure in. On arrival to Australia, our local team will look after you and provide ongoing support. With Healthcare Australia, it’s more than just finding you a job... United Kingdom +44 (0) 20 7861 8943 Canada and United States of America [email protected] Toll Free Number: 1-888-518-8550 [email protected] New Zealand +64 (0) 9 601 9260 [email protected] 1. WHAT DO I NEED TO ORGANISE BEFORE I ARRIVE? Visa The Australian Government Department of Home Affairs has a Visa finder which will help you establish different Visa options that may be suitable. The most common Visa is the Working Holiday Visa (WHV) “Everyone here is so • Valid for 12 months. grateful for helping them - which is really • Can work for the same employer for up to six months. However as HCA nice. Whereas at is an agency you can work for us for the entire 12 months. We just can’t home you don’t always feel send you to the one facility for more than the equivalent of six months as appreciated. Every team full time. Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on this for you. always makes a point of saying • Certain passport holders may be eligible for a 2nd WHV if you goodbye to you and thank you so much for the work that you complete 88 days of specified work in a regional location. do. Doctors and nurses have a • If you will be working in the Healthcare Industry in Australia you will be very good rapport and there’s required to have a medical for Visa purposes. not that superiority as at home - it’s definitely more relaxed here.” If you’re not sure about anything, contact our International Team. Sara Stephenson, Scotland - A&E AHPRA Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Applying for AHPRA is quite involved and time consuming. You will need to complete an AHPRA application form and provide the necessary required specific documentation, and submit the form by post approximately 4 months before you plan to arrive to Australia. We recommend you take this into consideration when arranging travel plans. Organising the required documentation will also take time, so it’s best to commence this process 6 months before you intend to submit the application. Please note, once your AHPRA registration has been assessed and approved, AHPRA website you only have 3 months to get to Australia to finalise your registration. http://www.ahpra.gov.au/ Our International team can help with the best way to complete your AHPRA You will need to fill out the application and the time frame to do all of this in. They have assisted many AGOS-40 form. nurses with this process and know all the tricks, tips and what not to do. Vaccination/Serology For you to be able to work in the Australian Health System, it is imperative that the following vaccinations, clearances and competencies are in place. If you’re not up to date with your vaccinations, it can limit your work opportunities as facilities are very strict. This will leave you with a smaller option of shifts available to you or may even prevent you from being allocated to shifts completely. “I love the flexible working hours, Vaccinations: especially in winter - you can pick shifts up because of the increase. On • Vaccinations must be within the last 10 years my time off I got to travel to Fraser If appropriate evidence cannot be provided some states require serology Island with a back-packing group • of 20-30 people for a weekend. We results which must be within the last 10 years did 4-wheel driving with 8 people in each car – the driving was really fun. Vaccinations/serology results can be costly particularly if you are not eligible Overall, it’s just a much better lifestyle, for Medicare in Australia. It is strongly recommended to organise vaccination people are laid back documentation before you leave. If you bring evidence for all states, it will and very polite – it must allow you the flexibility to transfer between states without additional costs if be the weather.” your plans change. Iona Matheson, UK – ICU Contact the International Team to find out what vaccinations you will need to work in each state. 2. WHAT IS AGENCY NURSING IN AUSTRALIA? The great thing about Agency Nursing with HCA is the ability to determine your own roster and availability. You tell us when you want to work and not the other way around. • If you want to work a lot of shifts to build up the finances, you have the ability to do so • If you want Saturday night off to go out with friends, just make yourself unavailable • If you make last minute travel plans, just take yourself off the roster • Planning a longer trip down the East Coast after working solidly, there is no limit to the amount of time off you can take • Heading to a new state or city, we can transfer your file rather than re-applying for a new job • You can work as much or as little as you like – you control your roster It’s important to note that every state has different requirements - which is determined by each State’s Health Board. We will assist and guide you with each state’s requirements for the necessary clearances. “I worked for Healthcare Australia in Sydney and Adelaide. I am back in the We will organise an orientation interview at the HCA office where you UK now and I miss it so much! Happy initially plan to work. We will send you an email confirming the time, date, memories. This photo is of myself location, who you will be meeting with and a list of documents/requirements and 3 other nurse registered at HCA, required for the interview. two Scottish nurses and a Canadian nurse. We met on our travels around The orientation interview generally takes approximately one and a half Australia and all worked with HCA and remain hours. Our consultants will explain everything about life with HCA - how to life long friends.” best make yourself available for shifts and they will be very happy to answer any questions you may have for them. They will arrange your ID, uniform, Laura Connal, and discuss the best hospitals to start work in based on where you will be Scotland - HDU living and your specialty. 3. HOW DO I GET ALLOCATED SHIFTS? You can notify us of your availability by our own eHCA app, online or phoning the Operations Centre which is open 24 hours, 7 days on 1300 422 247 As well as determining when you work, you can also control the preferences of where you like to work and where you don’t like to work. When a shift comes in that matches your availability, skills, and travel requests, an Allocations Consultant will contact you with all the details of the shift either by phone or you may receive notification by the app. You will be provided with all the details of where you will be working, how to get there, who to report to on arrival, if meals will be available on site or if you need to take something and if the uniform requirements differ from the regular HCA standard.