TRANSCRIPT
"My name is Narges, I am your nurse for this morning. If you don't mind, I'll just check your blood pressure."
For Narges Rezai, nursing was never just a job — it was a dream, a calling... and her way out.
Born in Iran to a Hazara-Afghan family, she grew up in a world where girls were not allowed to pursue higher education.
"Here... I am daddy's girl, still I am daddy's girl, he is watching me. Look at the family!"
Narges' father was her guiding light.
Her dad was no longer in the picture, after he died in a car crash when she was just a child.
Her mother — only 37 at the time — was left to raise seven kids on her own.
"When I lost my dad I said I feel like I lost everything, because he was my dad. But then again, I could see my mum and my little brothers and sisters, everyone, we were in a terrible situation."
Narges put her schooling on hold to learn how to weave and sell silk rugs — to support her family.
She moved to Australia in 2009, arriving with no English and no qualifications.
Today, after years of hard work, Narges is a trauma nurse at Royal Perth Hospital — caring for some of the most critical patients.
"It is a challenging place, and it can be stressful, but at the end of the day, you are looking after the patient who are very sick. And you can see them from the day they were really sick, and until the day they are getting better, that is so rewarding."
She's one of many migrant nurses filling urgent workforce gaps in Australia's healthcare system.
But for internationally trained nurses, accreditation has long been a slow and complex process.
Now, Australia's main nursing union is welcoming long-overdue reforms.
Annie Butler is from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Association.
"So often people would come, and they can't get one part of the process fixed before their visas run out so they have to leave the country."
Following an independent review, the Federal Government has expanded fast-track registration pathways.
Since March, nurses from Singapore, the UK, Ireland, the US, Spain, and parts of Canada have been eligible for fast-tracked registration.
It reduces application times by up to 6 to 12 months... provided they’ve worked at least 18-hundred hours since 2017.
Health Minister Mark Butler says the workforce is changing.
"We've got three times as many overseas trained nurses now coming into the country, as was happening before the COVID pandemic."
The union’s Annie Butler says while it is a step in the right direction, the focus should be on retention.
"While immigration is a part of the issue, increasing nursing training numbers is a part of the issue, once they are there, we got to keep them. We got to make sure we've got decent wages, decent conditions."
For Narges, the chance to give back to the country that gave her a second chance... is deeply personal.
"My mum she's always telling us, Australia has given you a shelter, freedom, and opportunity to be able to do what you want to do. Always she's reminding us, to make sure we give back."
