NZ RN wanna go to the States......................

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hi guys, love to move to the states for a change, but not sure what to do or what to start with.

Will the NZ education and registeration easily accepted there?? -- i ve done the Bachelor and Postgraduate Diploma in Mental Health

Any NZ Pych nurse here have gone through this??

Thanks very much:D

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

I would suggest a good read in the International forum. Issues I see is that NZ is not included (that I can see) on the E3 visa so therefore unless you have a Australian citizenship you are going to be affected by retrogression and take years to get to the US currently. You will have to meet BON requirements for foreign trained nurse and will need to pass NCLEX. Any questions regarding licensure in the US and immigration we do request are posted in the International forum

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Its so funny that you post this as I just post something trying to move to Australia. I dont know a whole lot about the process but I do know you'll have to register with the state that you will be working at. I would suggest California as they are in desperate need of nursing and they make great money. Not all areas in California are expensive, I lived there for 18 years.

You will also have to take the NCLEX which can be from 75-265 questions. The computer will stop when you meet the passing score but this must be done before you reach question 265. The test really isnt that bad. Many people pass with 265 q, 75 q, 110q, etc...

The average pay in California is from $29.00-48.00 depending on whether you are with an agency or work with a hospital with a shortage. They do give bonuses as well. I have heard of bonuses up to $20,000, some will even repay your student loans (something I have yet to find in Australia).

I hope any of this helps and good luck!!

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Specializes in CTICU.

California is not recommended as the initial state for US licensure if you do not have a social security number - they won't give you the licence without the SSN.

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Specializes in Operating room, SDC.

i doubt Australia gives bonuses to nurses. i never got one with my 11 years of nursing there. Both public and private sectors of hospital differ in pay rates, with the public sector paying more per/hour, not by much though, it used to be around 1 dollar more in the public, i dont know about now though! The nurses union always fights for more fair wages and fair treatment for nurses over there. i know just before i left Australia, i was working for the public sector and you can take annual leave at half rate, used to be 5 weeks per year but now you can take 10 weeks at half rate! and long service leave is 6months at half rate or 3 months full pay. They also have salary sacrificing in Australia, where you can havecertain things paid like utility bills/rent/mortgage from your pay, before you get taxes taken out, as a result you get taxed less overall. Salary sacrificing is a little complicated to explain and im not sure if they have changed the rules since i left and I am not sure if you are eligible for it if you are not a citizen of Australia. They are stringent on 8/10hours breaks where you must have 10 hours break in between working. I worked in OR there and if we were called in and we havent had a 10 hours break before our shift starts the next day, we actually do not go to work until we have a 10hour break and you still get paid for the time youare not there. its called fatigue leave. so for example if you finsihed work at 6pm and you got called in at say at 1am (you havent hd a 10hour break) and did not get to come home until 3am, then you take your 10hour break from 3am. So if you start work at 7am, you dont actually have to be at work until 1pm in the afternoon! This is in OR, not sure about the wards, but i think they work the same way if they have to work OT

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