oldenglish wrote:How do nurses do in Australia with socialized healthcare?
We prefer 'public health system'... (which, for what its worth, is very very popular as a system in Australia. The system itself is not perfect, but the public funding of it is almost universally supported).
Nurses do ok. Pay for a general nurse will be somewhere in the range of $60k to $80k plus superannuation contribution (pension) of a further 9-15% of salary. So say a total package will average around mid 70s (full time work with some shift work), obviously higher if you are a specialist (ICU, surgery). So say US80k and GBP53k. Arguably a bit underpaid but I dont think that is entirely due to the health system, probably more historically related to the high female participation rate (traditional female occupations generally being lower paid than male!)
There is a shortage of nurses in Australia, so picking up a job if you are qualified wont be too hard - whether you want full time or casual/part time shift work or as a temp (temps get around $40 p/hr). Australian hospital often go overseas and try to steal nurses from other countries. Indeed, a quick look at one job site has over 400 nursing vacancies around Australia.
