Nursing-In-Australia

Immigration is a critical event in a person’s life and may include experiences such as culture shock and difficulties in transition to the new work place in Australia. Up until now, there has been little done to support CALD nurses in their transition, although Jackson (1996, p. 124) highlighted that comfort and support was found if sharing of the lived experience was possible with other CALD nurses.

Immigrant nurses with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds commonly experience a range of difficulties in their transition to their new workplaces in Australia. Studies in NSW explored this phenomenon and found that the core issues were language barriers, feeling lonely and experiencing otherness, discrimination, lack of support, and unfamiliarity with local nursing practise.

On the other hand comfort was found if sharing of their lived experiences with other non-English speaking background nurses was possible. Some of the experiences may be partly due to culture shock, other are linked to individual and environmental stressors in adapting to the new life and work environment in Australia. Adjustment was mainly mastered by overcoming the first difficult year and becoming able to rationalise the experiences as there are no specific support programs so far.

Moreover, since the nursing shortage is a current and future topic of concern, it is crucial to enable immigrant nurses to join the Australian nursing work force, as their cultural and linguistic competencies will be beneficial in caring for Australia’s multicultural population.

Bio Marianne

Marianne grew up in a small country village in the Swiss Emmenthal. In 2006 she put her dream of moving to Australia into reality and emigrated to Perth. This move to leave her comfort-zone in Switzerland, her desire for continuous self-development, as well as her excitement and determination toward reaching her goals reflects the challenges that Marianne readily embraces.

Marianne is an open hearted person who is interested in people, cultures and in making the world a better place. She lives out her dreams such as spending time at the beach, discovering Australia’s native environment but more than anything she enjoys supporting motivated individuals on their journey of healing and success.

Marianne has over 20 years experience as a nurse, working approximately 12 years in mental health/drug addiction. In 2007 Marianne graduated as a Post Graduate Mental Health Nurse at ECU, Western Australia. She loves her vocation as a nurse as it provides a great opportunity to empower people by using her coaching skills. These can contribute to better self-esteem, improved relationships with family and friends, finding visions and assisting in achieving a dream life.

At present she is benefiting greatly from the education and mentor-coaching with Beyond Success and is embracing the opportunity to find the freedom to live to her full potential and meeting like-minded people .

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me by making a comment on this blog or email me: marianne@success-coaching.org