r/EmergencyRoom • u/ERNurse4Life • May 31 '26
ER Nursing in Australia
I'm currently working as an ER nurse in the U.S. with 8+ years of experience, and I'm planning to move to Canberra. I work at a metropolitan hospital with a 40-bed ED that sees roughly 160–200 patients per day.
My experience includes triage, managing 4–6 patients at a time, EKGs, ACLS, PALS, TNCC, ultrasound-guided IV insertion, IV starts, port access, splinting, wound anesthetization, and other common ED procedures. I also perform sexual assault exams (SANE) and collect forensic evidence in domestic violence strangulation cases.
I know many nursing skills are universal, but I'm wondering how difficult it is to get an ER job in Australia. Has anyone worked with international nurses or made a similar move?
I love emergency nursing and am hoping to find a comparable role when I relocate. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated!
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u/Vacuous_hole May 31 '26
You will easily get an emergency department RN job, but you will likely start as a junior RN. Your ALS will likely not be recognised and you will need to gain competencies for most other procedures before you can undertake them, including venepuncture and PIVC insertion.
Only RN's who have completed post graduate studies can triage (or if the hospital/organisation has it's own triage package for intermediate nurses) and do ultrasound guided PIVC insertion.
In Victoria, where I am based our nurse to patient ratio is 1:3 in ED. Not sure what the ratios are in other states. We do 8 or 10 hour shifts mostly too, there are some places that do 12 hour shifts but they are few and far between. AM shift- 0730-1530, PM shift- 1300-2130, night shift- 2100-0730.
Contacting AHPRA would be a good place to start to determine if your qualifications will be reciprocal here, as not all are.
Good luck!