Iain_Lewis

Hello everybody!
This is my first post. I was wondering whether there were any ex-pat nurses living in NZ who could give me an idea of the current salary available. I am a band 7 Senior Nurse Practitioner in Mental Health. I've heard that salaries are lower than in the U.K. and, if this is true, is this offset by cheaper cost of living?
Thank you!

inkedneonurse

Hi I'm not out there but maybe this will help

http://http://www.nzno.org.nz/groups...on_information

inkedneonurse

Not sure why the hyperlink doesn't work but here is the cut and paste version
http://www.nzno.org.nz/groups/health_sectors/dhb/meca_ratification_information

Also on cost of living there is many threads in here about it (don't mention cucumbers whatever you do) to summise what I've gathered from them (and my mother in law who lives out there) it's expensive for most things

Sparkleydiva

Hi there,

I found my salary to be slightly better than the UK, but
I worked in specialist palliative care. Cost of living is generally very high - rent, food, power etc, with only petrol cheaper.

I would say, however, that in many cases irrespective of current experience and banding, you end up having to start on a lower grade if you dont have NZ experience. They are particularly hot on this.

inkedneonurse

How far would the drop be? I'm 4 years post grad (still uk band 5) would I have to start off on their new grad wage?

Sparkleydiva

After 15 years of A&e/general surgery, i started back in a nursing home on $26/hr, which was higher than most were paid. Is tough to start with without NZ experience, which isnt needed, they just prefer it � ����

inkedneonurse

Ah well will have to wait and see I spose

Sparkleydiva

You can make it work if you want to. So sometimes you just have to accept the backward moves as part of the process. Sometimes kiwis can be scared of some that have experience and qualifications beyond theirs, but for me was worth the pain. Good luck.

Iain_Lewis

Thanks everybody!
I e-mailed the NZNO directly and they sent a link to a 100-page document outlining recent agreements between District Health Boards (it's as exciting as it sounds - a real page-turner!) http://britishexpats.com/forum/images/smilies/yawn.gif
Salaries appear to be fairly similar to current Agenda For Change.
Anyway, here it is...(hope the link works!)
[URL="http://www.nzno.org.nz/Portals/0/Files/Documents/Support/CA/DHB%20MECA%2024%20Aug%202015%20-%2031%20July%202017WEB.pdf"]

LauraNotts

I am an expat nurse who works in Mental Health -when I emigrated I had just under 2 years experience and the DHB I came to work for credited that to me in terms of salary banding so they can do that.

Top salary band for most ward nurses excluding charge nurse managers would be about $66000 a year but that is just base rate. If you include penal rates (time and quarter for anything between 8pm and 7am, double time at weekends and public holidays and for ANY overtime) and you get a pretty decent salary.

You can add to that by completing a PDRP - which is basically a way of proving your level of competence in your speciality. There are various levels, Competent, Proficient, Expert and I think Leadership which each come with additional money on top of your base salary.

If you work in community then you can get additional salary banding on top (Steps 6-9 I think) but I'm unsure of what you need to do to earn those. I'm just about to go into a community job so I should know soon.

I have found almost every nurse to be very welcoming and supportive. The only exception was one snotty new grad who thought that my being qualified in mental health rather than general nursing meant I wasn't as good as she was. Everyone else has been awesome and I feel completely part of my team.

The MECA is due for re-negotiation this year and we will likely secure further pay rises. The Doctors have recently carried out strike action for better conditions so I'm hoping the DHBs will be in a mood to talk.

inkedneonurse

Thank you for the info

Sam13

Hey, even if the pay is the same as in the UK, at least with the significantly lower annual leave allowance in NZ there's more scope for unsocial pay hours 😜 Thanks for all the info above, good to know!

Anyone had any experience applying for jobs at ADHB while I'm on a nursing thread? Closing date was 10 days ago, my application status on line still says "active: submissions under review", not sure how long until I go slightly insane waking in the middle of the night to have a cheeky check of my emails or am I just being very impatient?

Sparkleydiva

I was offered a job by ADHB but that was by interview in the
UK before we moved over. That said application to interview through to offer was speedy. Good luck

LauraNotts

The Annual leave allocation if you work on the wards isn't that bad. If you're full time you get each of the 11 public holidays plus 40 hours of shift leave for anti-social hours plus 4 weeks annual leave.

Sam13

I am still in the Uk and have spoken to them several times before the closing date, but that was 10 days ago and I've not heard anything still, although when I log in to their page, it's still says reviewing submissions. It is a very niche job and they said they would wait for me to complete my registration and help with the visa if I was successful, but it was still a long shot applying for it! I don't want to annoy anyone by emailing them if the norm is to take several weeks!!

That's better than I had read on the NCNZ website that only mentioned 4 weeks as a new starter, thanks for that. I've never heard of shift leave? Having been in my current job for 12 years plus I have got all my annual leave enhancements here so it would still feel like a bit of a drop, especially when there are so many amazing places to go visit and for uk family when they come over (hopefully!)