US nurse in NZ

[hadmondsnz]

Hi everyone, Im new to site and just graduated with ASN from Santa Fe community college in May. Licensed in the state of Florida but moved with my family to Palmerston North New Zealand in June. I am having a very hard time getting my license here, as they are saying that my program does not have enough clock hours to be equivelent with their programs. I am currently looking at their calculations and responding in hopes of a different decision. Has anyone else had this experience in NZ and/or are there any US nurses on list practicing in NZ?

Cheers

[augigi, CNS]

I think there is a similar system to Australia - 3 year bachelor's degree. Have you asked if there is any way you can make up the missing units? (It's 3 years of pure nursing classes with a couple of electives that we take)

[hadmondsnz]

Yes, you are correct very similar to Australia and they have reciprocity agreement with Aus. They are asking me to do an additional 18month of training which is crazy. As I then would have gone to school for a total of nearly 4 years. On top of the fact that I already have a bachelor's degree and a graduate degree. They seem to be very concerned about clock hours, not the actual type of degree. I am meeting with the registration committee to ask them to reconsider and put me through competency testing. Thanks for your reply.