sej33

Hi, I am a nurse in New Zealand and involved with the nurses union nzno, the only reason that they would be asking you to work as a hca is to pay you less, hca get paid a lot less than a rn and have a very limited scope of practice, they work under the direction of an rn. As such many of the roles and duties you perform when working as an rn you would be unable to do in a hca role and if you did perform rn duties while working as a hca you could get in trouble with nursing council and jeopardise you registration. If you need any help or have questions get I contact with either nzno or nz nursing council.

Hi, just wondering if you have looked into polytech fees unless you have a New Zealand permanent residency or citizenship you would have to pay international student fees which are a lot higher than domestic students pay. If you are already a RN i think your better option would be to work on your english to get to the level 7 and apply for a NZ registration rather than doing a 3 year degree. I studied at CPIT in Christchurch and found there program really good best of luck sam

Hi, I'm also a new grad who will be starting out in the OR Monday week. Thanks for the great reply to this thread answered a few of my questions and settled some nerves. Best of luck to BrandNewRN83 hope everything is going well.

Hi, I'm just about finished my nursing degree in NZ. Most new grads here enter a nursing entrance to practice program (NETP) with one of the district health boards, agencies or private hospitals around the country. There are usually two intakes a year, I think most of the applications for the January 2010 intake have closed but if you were hoping to start early next year I would send out some emails with a copy of your resume and see what turns up. As for the nursing shortage in NZ. Many district health boards are thinking of the future and the many nurses who might be thinking of retirement in the next few years, so they are willing to offer positions/programs for new grads. Best of luck

Hi everyone, I'm a third year nursing student from New Zealand about to embark on a 6 week rural placement on the west coast of the south island. I will be under the supervision of a nurse practitioner and based out of a small town with a population of around 280 people. I'm looking forward to this experience but would really appreciate any advice about what to expect and how to better prepare a city girl like myself for the challenges of rural nursing. thanks Sam