Apr 11, 2012, 09:16 pm
Hi Angel61!
I read your post and just had to register and reply to you. I am in exactly the same position. I last practised in 2004 and voluntarily removed myself from the register as I was living overseas where my Australian qualification was not recognised ( I was audited in my first year of registration and knew I would not be able to show recency of practise if audited again.) I have spent the last 7 months trying to find the appropriate course to be able to re register as an EN in WA. I have had many conversations with AHPRA and hospitals, training facilities and Universities in WA and other states. Unfortunately all of the EN refresher/bridging courses have now been withdrawn. I wish I had known this was under review when I applied through AHPRA for the letter from them advising I was eligable to do a refresher course. I got the approval letter from them (at the cost of $230)in September 2011 (valid for 24 months) and the courses were withdrawn in February 2012.
I am now in a position where I may just have to leave nursing behind me and move on as I am not really in a position to complete my studies all over again from scratch! The institutions that I spoke to all told me that the role of the EN is very different now from when we completed our studies (end 2003 for me), and that we would probably leave soon after restarting our careers so the refresher courses were now no longer being offered for EN's.
Like you, I feel completely devastated that my beloved nursing is now far out of reach. My only suggestion is maybe doing the conversion from EN to RN (maybe by correspondence with a family) - though you may need to still be on the register to be eligable! Good luck and I hope you find something that will help you get back into nursing! All the best!
