Canadian RN wanting to go to New Zealand - Advice?!

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Hey Everyone!

I'm just finishing up an accelerated nursing degree, and I REAAALLLYYY want to go to New Zealand when I graduate. I'd love to work for a year or two there but I've been reading some conflicting things about the availability of jobs, pay scale and cost of living there, and I'm looking for some advice.

My plan is to work in Canada for a year before I go to save up, gain some experience, and get all of my ducks in a row paperwork wise. I guess my questions for you oh-so-wise nurses out there are:

1) exactly what licensing paper work would I need to get organized to work there?

2) what areas or places would you recommend working or moving to?

3) What is the average pay scale like? (I have a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Neuro and Psych with a minor in linguistics, my paramedic license, years and years of experience in home care and working with people with developmental disabilities, and now my RN with hopefully at least one year experience in emergency care before I go)

4) Are nurses on a union in New Zealand like Canada, or is pay/employment dependent on different areas/companies?

5) Is it worth it to live and work there or would you recommend just working in Canada and traveling New Zealand for a few months instead?

Thank you for any help or recommendations!

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

NZ required minimum 2 years experience. Everything is online on the NZ nursing council website.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Questions regarding registering as a nurse in NZ as a IEN is better to post in the Nurse Registration forum.

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Thanks for your reply! I did see that two year thing somewhere. I also saw that it needs to be two years / 2500 hours. That's only just over a year if you're working fourty hours a week. Do you know if it needs to be two years specifically, or just that 2500 hours?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Starting point for Nurse Registration would be International registration / Nurses / Home - Nursing Council of New Zealand

Then it is a chance once met requirements to look for employer so then starting point would be http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.

Jobs for new grad RNs are very few and far between.

We have a new grad program however its only avaliable to new grad nurses of NZ descent or NZ citizenship. I missed out on the new grad program however I was really lucky and got taken on by a very supportive nurse who sort of mentored me through the first 6-12months.

You would do much better to get 1-2 years experience in Canada prior to considering a move for work. Perhaps consider working in Canada and traveling out here to see you like it first.

We are a union country, with the opportunity to be either on individual or collective employment contracts.

Starting wages vary, on the grad program its around $45000 I started on just over $50,000

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Tenebrae,

Do you know if the new grad program is available to nurses trained outside of NZ? I have my citizenship through my dad, but my nursing education was done in Canada. We are contemplating a move and I am wondering if this program is something I should look into.

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