tayley

Can anyone tell me how much i could expect to earn in NZ as a Band 5 equivalent Staff nurse with 12 months experience in ICU (Critical Care).

Gill and Rob

Hi
I can't help with pay details. However if you read through the posts you will find posts by my wife Gill. Where are you in UK? She is in the uk recruiting at the moment and will be at the Expo in Manchester this weekend. Should be well worth a visit if you are in that area. She will have all the details on wages and availability of jobs in ICU as well as other Nursing and medical related positions, within the Central North Island area. We came from the UK so she can, and will be happy to answer all sorts of questions that you may have.

Rob

tayley

Thanks, unfortunately not available to go to Manchester this weekend. Will read though the post

Genesis

Kate earns around $52000 and will be getting a $2500 increse when she has done her PDRP..evidence based portfolio of proficiency. Kate has about 14 yrs experience as a nurse..they are quite well paid by NZ standards. She is very impressed with NZ nursing generally..its not perfect just better than the NHS..in her opinion.

lardyl

seems pretty good - MrsL is a Specialist Speech Therapist and her proposed salary is about $55k to $60 and she has 14 years experience. SLTs used to be paid somewhat above the rates of most nurses (cf my S-i-L who is a midwife sister with 20 yrs experience) - now both "band 6" since agenda for change (for that read "kick in the teeth" - which meant for Lisa about a 10% pay cut, longer hours and less holiday - why do we want to leave the UK??? ).

Gill and Rob

Hello Gill here, currently in UK recruiting.
Salary in NZ is dependant on how long you have been qualified for, as a general staff nurse the range is $40,000 for a new graduate, up to $54,000 for 5 years plus experience. There is no grading system.
If you would like info on job opportunities in the 5 midland regions district health boards, just send me a PM with a CV.
cheers
Gill

tayley

thankx for the reply. on shift this weekend so unavailable to attend. i qualified in march this year and have worked in icu since then, recently started bank shifts in other areas to increase experience in case this move does work out. waiting to hear on husband getting a job in auckland, if he gets it we should be moving in approx 10 months.

Boopy

I started on the middle level with a DHB, which has just increased fom $50 - $54,000, which can go up to $60,000 with weekend and nights.
Hope that helps.

lardyl

I'd be interested to find out how much in way of experience/quals you need to reach "middle level" - in order to compare with SLT's scales.
thanks, Ian

katracy

Do you think the standard of care of patients is better in nz than uk? are they more nurses per ward in nz? are staff treated better in nz than uk?

Birdey

Hi Gill,
Out of interest, Im a nurse with 10+years mainly ED experience, UK trained + a Msc (med Sci) on the look out for non uniform wearing jobs in health (done my share of arse wiping and night shifts) for next year in Hawkes Bay region, any ideas.
Cheers
Bird :

Boopy

Hi Ian,

I had been qualified between 3- 4 years when I started, middle level was the competent level. I had been an F grade - sorry, band 6 nurse. Here they don't seem to go by experience for pay scales, but how many years you have been qualified. If you need any more info just pm me.

Dee

Boopy

Hi

I can't generalise but can speak from the ward that I had worked on. I worked for 3 months at Wellington Hospital, and couldn't wait to get out. I was on what should have been a very specialised ward. The turn over of staff was very, very high, having had a number of Brits work there for very short periods then leaving quickly. The experienced staff were reluctant to share their skills with new staff members, making the ward a very unsafe environment. Many nurses felt threatened by british nurses because we question unsafe practice, they are used to doing as the doctors tell them, with no questions of why.
Many were racist (the European kiwi's), we had 2 new nurses from India on our ward, not many staff spoke or had their breaks with them. They muddled through unsupported.
The accurity of patients per nurse was high, considering the ward had mostly inexperienced staff. We worked 12.5 hr shifts, and you were lucky to get a lunch break, night shifts didn't slow down, you rarely got a break in 12.5 hrs.
I found the standard of patient care low, they being no time for basic care, Some patients hadn't been offered a shower in days - these are all high risk patients. The ward rarely had it's full quota of nurses on duty,with high levels of sickness due to stress.
They are trying to address issues, but with bad leadership, nothing will change. I had to stay at the hospital for 3months, to validate my residency.
I now work in the community, where the nurses are more on our wave length of thinking - no power struggles, and work to best practice.
Less money, but I can give patients good care, and now have job satisfaction. We have good leadership and everyone seems to support each other, they are all friendly and helpful.

Dee

lardyl

thanks boopy - I was looking at the SLT wage vs nurses scales so that we can assess how good my OH's job offer will (we hope) be.
It seems that they need the HR Dpt's clearance to offer a job with such a high salary as MrsL is (hopefully) going to get......