Nursing in New Zealand
 

Hello, i am looking for some information in regards to a temporary move to New Zealand to work as a nurse and wondered if anyone could help me?

Me and my husband are right at the start of research so lots of things to look at and think about.
I currently work as a practice nurse and thinking about doing my nurse prescribing before we move, how difficult is it to get a practice nurse job? Are most of the jobs available hospital work?

What is the annual income (for full time) for a nurse in NZ? How many weeks holiday do you get? We are thinking of Auckland area and would like to be near some nice beaches etc, what are the best areas for this and are they generally near nursing work?

My husband is currently a fireman and know that finding the same job out there would be near impossible so he is thinking of training as a gym instructor/personal trainer. Are these jobs hard to come by and whats the pay like?

We also have a dog and would want to bring him with us, has anyone exported their pet out with them? It is difficult and expensive?

Would it be difficult to get temporary accommodation that would allow pets?

Can you use your UK drivers license out there, what are transport links like?

Thank you, any help would be much appreciate.

Re: Nursing in New Zealand
 

Re: Nursing in New Zealand
 

Thank you so much thats very helpful!!

Not sure why Auckland really i just compared it to Wellington and seem to be more suited to the North but we have never been to new Zealand and dont know the areas so i guess thats the main thing to research right now.
I imagine on my nursing wage and unsure of husbands future income we wouldnt be flush with money so may need to look at other areas that are cheaper but still near nice beaches etc.

Really appreciate your help. Thanks so much.

Re: Nursing in New Zealand
 

Hi,
My Mrs is a practice nurse here in NZ. We've been here 6.5 years.
Prior to us moving out she'd done 23 years in nursing and approx 15 years on ICU and was a Sister but she was fed up of hospital work and the shifts so around 18 months or so before we came out she started to get in to practice nursing to get some experience. She did some volunteering in the UK at first to get a foot in the door, did a few courses etc then got some part time paid work at a nearby medical centre. When we initially moved out to Wellington we thought she'd struggle to find a job as she hadn't been doing it long and didn't really have any experience. There were zero practice nurse jobs advertised so she just cold called and dropped off a CV and covering letter with the nurse manager of all the local GP's and attended a few free or low price courses in the CBD so she could start networking to get advice from others already in the jobs. Even though none of the GP's she cold called had any advertised vacancy she was interviewed by quite a few and offered at least two part time roles which is what she was after. She did a year with one just across from Wellington's main hospital for a year before we moved up to Tauranga - the all important NZ work experience. She has found it a lot harder to get permanent hours here in the BOP but her career has been interrupted with another child etc and there hardly ever seems to be practice nurse jobs going so for a couple years all she did was casual work for several GP's in our location - covering sickness and holidays etc. Worked out quite well for her and for the past year or so she's had permanent hours - 1.5 days per week but still does casual as offered depending on my shifts.
In our experience getting a practice nurse position hasn't been easy.
They are also not directly employed by the DHB's and don't get paid under the same t's and c's as a nurse working in the hospital. Are there practice nurses in the hospitals here....??? I don't think so.
Practice nurses are employed by the GP practices they work for or by a company who owns the GP practice they work for but are then paid under the MECA contract. The Mrs is on the top of the tree money wise and earns around $32 / hour I think and annual leave for a full time employee would be the standard 4 weeks but you earn this as you go along. You can download the MECA contract online.
You will need to start the Nurse Registration process as you must have that to practice in a medical profession here. That takes 3 or 4 months so the Mrs said. You will have to have Police Certificates, CRB check and pass IELTS Academic at min overall score of 7.0. This is mandatory regardless of your origin....this is for nursing registration and not Immigration although Immigration will also want those also. The Nursing Council of NZ will guide you.

Auckland is a seriously expensive place to live unless you have a good household income coming in.

Your partner would be stuffed going the fireman route. We have a fire service but many of them are volunteers. Not many of them are salaried employees and it is very difficult and can take years to get to that point.
Being a gym instructor/personal trainer is certainly a way to go for him to get work. I often see jobs locally for personal trainers but I don't think they are well paid unless you are highly experienced and I suppose it depends on the employer size and their profits ?
A friend of mine is a personal trainer here in Tauranga. Has his own gym in the centre and runs classes daily. He does alright but it's his business, life and income.

Many people bring pets. Not that difficult but does cost a few grand and the pet will have to go in to quarantine this end before being released. There's a process they have to go through with shots etc so good idea to research and start the process as it takes several months before they can travel. There's a few historic threads on this subject if you use the Search facility above.

Definitely more difficult to get a rental with pets but not impossible and cost wise you may pay a higher premium but it won't be a lot different.

You can drive on Uk license for up to 12 months. You must use it to get an NZ one before you have been here 12 months. Take it in to an AA shop, fill in a form, pay the fee, take an eye test and you'll get a temporary NZ license.....make sure they've filled it in properly and haven't omitted any of your vehicle classes (missed my motorbike entitlement off mine) and then the card comes through the post a couple of weeks later.

Transport Links in Wellington are pretty good. Lots of buses and there's a few rail services from the CBD going North up to the Northern suburbs and beyond and also up to the Hutt Valley and beyond. I used the train for a few months and it was pretty good.
There are also bus and rail services in Auckland but the reports aren't as good.

Re: Nursing in New Zealand
 

Thank you so much, this has been very helpful and informative and given us much more to thing about!

Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my super long message : ).

Re: Nursing in New Zealand
 

Blimey. I was thinking about how you are getting on just yesterday and then up you pops.

Spooky. :eek:

Re: Nursing in New Zealand
 

Re: Nursing in New Zealand
 

It's entirely possible to work in Auckland and not live there, or just in outlying areas. There are plenty of hospitals and clinics in the region. Auckland DHB (District Health Board) is central Auckland, but you have 3 others in the region that take up the outer parts of Auckland, rural areas etc and can offer cheaper living. Those are Waitemata DHB, Counties Manukau Health and Northland DHB.