Hi Marilyn The Nurses Board of Victoria can be accessed through www.nbv.org.au (I am a member of the Board. The following is my opinion - I cannot speak on behalf of the Board.) I understand that there are in the range of 100 midwives registered in Vic who did their education through direct entry courses and are not general nurses. Also there are several universities that have begun the 3-year B Mid courses this year, and these courses have Nurses Board accreditation.
I think the Nurses Act 1993 needs to be repealed, and a new Nurses and Midwives Act, or a separate Midwives Act, brought in. This requires a lot of work by the midwifery profession with the government Policy branch. As far as the law is concerned at the moment, midwives in Vic (and the rest of Australia) are registered nurses. Midwives who are not general nurses have a 'restriction' placed on their registration: Registered Nurse (division 1) Midwife with restriction to midwifery (not sure of the actual wording). I can understand why a midwife would not choose to come to Victoria, where no midwife can get visiting access to hospitals; where there is no public funding for homebirth; where there are only 100 homebirths each year, out of 60,000; where birth centres have alarmingly high rates of transfer out to obstetric care; where more than 40% of inductions are for reasons other than acceptable reasons; where the rate of vaginal birth after a primary caesarean is only 20% ... But WA has the Community Midwifery Program, about which I am sure someone will tell you. Wherever you go, there will be a great deal of work needed, seeking reform of the maternity services and humanisation of birth. We need strong women who can commit themselves to work in a team of consumers and midwives and others across the country for a very worthy cause. Joy Johnston -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 1:52 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: midwifery positions Dear List: As many of you may know I have been hanging out at the list for a while. I have now finished my midwifery education in the USA (direct entry at Seattle Midwifery School), have received my license to practice midwifery in Washington, and am in the process of applying for registration in Australia. I have downloaded application packages from the Nurses Boards in NSW, Qld., and SA. and I am in the process of collecting the portfolio of certificates etc. that are required . I have a couple of questions regarding the NSW application: they want to know if I have had traffic infringements (the wording is convictions specifically including traffic infringements), do they mean speeding tickets? (yes, I have had 4 in various jurisdictions over the last 33 years of driving). The other question is more crucial: I had collected a package (when I was in Australia in January) from the nurses board for applying to be registered as a midwife only (which is what I am, I am not trained/educated as a nurse), I then downloaded stuff from the web site and on the midwife application it had a sentence which was not there before: to be completed by midwives who are RN's. Has something changed in NSW? Should I wait to send in my application in NSW until the new ammendment has passed through the parliament? I have nothing against Victoria or Western Australia, I have been advised though that the states I have listed above might be more amenable to my qualification than either Victoria or WA. I am open to input. I am still an Australian citizen so I don't need a work visa to come to Australia. I am planning on leaving the USA on May 22nd. However I am wondering if any of you know of any midwifery or midwifery related positions that are available, anywhere in Australia. Thanking you in advance for any responses. marilyn -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
