I am finding that the Internet is not reliable in answering some questions I have about nursing in Wellington. Are nurses unionized? What are pay scales like? (I have almost 5 years thoracic surgery experience in Canada) what about vacation and overtime? Do those vary from hospital to hospital? Any suggestions for applying and how to know your not being taken advantage of when you have just moved there and are looking for a job?
All the District Health Boards (these are local health authorities that are responsible for health services for a specific geographic region) and the nurses' union have a MECA (multi-employer collective agreement) that gets renewed every 3 to 4 years. There is a uniform pay scale, no matter where you work in NZ. I think the only difference is getting overseas experience recognized so you can get paid under the appropriate pay scale. As an RN, there's 5 pay steps (1 being new grad and 5 being an RN with 4 or more years experience), but like I said it all depends on whether your manager recognizes overseas experience (some experienced overseas nurses I work with were put on pay step 2 despite years of experience).
To move beyond the 5 step RN pay scale, you will need experience here and professional development.
For example, I have 8 years experience in total, and I only moved here from Australia in July 2016. I'm on RN pay step 5 which pays $66,755.00/year for 1.0 FTE (roughly $32/hour). To get more money, I would need to work towards becoming a level 3 RN (currently a Level 2 on the professional development rating, level 1 being a new grad). This involves developing a ward/unit-based project, mainly to do with quality improvement. If I progress to Level 3, then I get a yearly allowance.
I think what makes the pay significantly bigger is the shift and weekend penalties. You get 150% of your normal pay for working weekends, 25% for working any hours between 2000 to 0600, 150% for public holidays plus a lieu day (paid day off, even if you don't work the public holidays, of which there are 10 per year). In effect, if you work shifts, you get 5 weeks off a year plus 10 paid days off (which you can accumulate and use as vacation leave).
There is also the designated senior nurse pay scale and the highest is like $115,000 per year or something but I'm not sure how it works.
The pay is not as big as Canada's but if you love the outdoors, New Zealand is a wonderful place to move to.
Hi,
I am an Australian RN currently in Brisbane, 6 years experience. For lifestyle reasons Husband and I are thinking of moving to Dunedin (Husband lived there briefly hence the location choice, we both like the city).
Would you be willing to provide some detail about your gross and take home pay with penalties ?
For example I'm in Brisbane and with regular overtime (every fortnight) my gross is around $110,000 a year, I will take home about $80,000 of that. Would you be willing to share similar info for NZ? I am trying to work out if we can afford to move and sacrifice such a big wage in Australia.
Hey there. I am at step 5. My employer honoured my overseas experience. I work community so regular hours 4 days a week. I take home $1600 fortnightly so you would be making atleast that. I'm at he ccdhb.
Specializes in Telemetry, Emergency, Cardiology, Respiratory.
Hi,
I am an Australian RN currently in Brisbane, 6 years experience. For lifestyle reasons Husband and I are thinking of moving to Dunedin (Husband lived there briefly hence the location choice, we both like the city).
Would you be willing to provide some detail about your gross and take home pay with penalties ?
For example I'm in Brisbane and with regular overtime (every fortnight) my gross is around $110,000 a year, I will take home about $80,000 of that. Would you be willing to share similar info for NZ? I am trying to work out if we can afford to move and sacrifice such a big wage in Australia.
Thank you !!!
Hi,
Your hourly base rate would be $32. Saturday and Sunday rate is $48/hour. Afternoon and night (20:00 to 07:00) is $40/hour. Your base annual salary would be $66,755 if you are full time (40 hours per week). I get roughly $80,000 per year with all the shift and weekend work. After tax thats around $60,000.00.
I used to live in Brisbane as well ( I was a clinical nurse at the RBWH) so the pay cut was a tremendous shock. NZ does not have tax-free tresholds or salary sacrificing to make it worse and everything is much more expensive.
If it is for a lifestyle change I would think about moving to regional Queensland (e.g. Toowoomba or Warwick). The South Island is very beautiful but you can always visit with the money you make in Oz.
RNsydneygirl
23 Posts
Hi,
I am an Australian RN currently in Brisbane, 6 years experience. For lifestyle reasons Husband and I are thinking of moving to Dunedin (Husband lived there briefly hence the location choice, we both like the city).
Would you be willing to provide some detail about your gross and take home pay with penalties ?
For example I'm in Brisbane and with regular overtime (every fortnight) my gross is around $110,000 a year, I will take home about $80,000 of that. Would you be willing to share similar info for NZ? I am trying to work out if we can afford to move and sacrifice such a big wage in Australia.
Thank you !!!