US RN, CA & TX would like to move to NZ or AU, please help

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Specializes in ICU Dialysis, Rehab, Med-Surg, Geriatric.

Hi to all.

I am an RN in SF, CA right now working with a city and county Hospital. I am float Nurse with ICU dialysis, Med-Surge(TBI in Texas Neuro) but mostly geriatrics experience of accumulated 5+ years. I am seriously moving to NZ or Australia. I graduated from the Philippines but I am an American Citizen. So I have Ielts with Academic and General in hand and all above 7. My questions are: if there is a need for nurses in New Zealand can somebody recommend me an employer? If I have to attend a school, which is no problem since I graduated from the PI, how many years will be that? And if the question is, why am I moving to these countries from the one of the greatest cities on earth, as they say perception is reality and unless you are smart to know what is the meaning of life aside from paying mortgage that will offer with free alopecia areata and with free super high cortisol level, I will not fall into that trap. Thank you in advance and yes I would like to read on any suggestions. I am willing to move on those areas that needs my services and have no intentions of taking away somebody's opportunities, specially new grads, meaning only on those areas that needs my services, thank you.

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Are you certified in any of the specialties you mentioned? I ask because, they do things a little differently down here in that regard.

Would you be happy working in a slow and inefficient paper based system? I'm pretty chill, and I still find it a bit frustrating.

Honestly, I moved here with my partner for her career. Almost everything has been fantastic. The only thing that fell very short of our expectations was the quality of opportunities in nursing. It's bad enough that if we knew then what we know now, we may have decided not to move.

I have concerns about both working in healthcare, as well as being a healthcare consumer, over here. I've seen more errors working part time over here in 2 months than I've seen in 3 years working full time over there.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Emergency, Cardiology, Respiratory.

Hello Ramzeneger,

You would have to apply via the Nursing Council of New Zealand for your credentials to be assessed.

In some cases, the result will be for the nurse to undergo a competency programme. It is a 6-8 week course that involves both theory and a clinical placement. The cost is somewhere in the region of NZ$10,000. After that course you will gain registration.

I had to do that course 10 years ago and in my class were Filipinos, a Dutchman, and some New Zealanders who were out of practice for more than 5 years and wanted to go back into nursing again.

I haven't come across any Americans unfortunately but I am going to assume you will have to go through the exact same process. The only exceptions from the CAP I can think of are Australian and British-educated nurses, Australia having a reciprocity agreement with New Zealand.

Clarke is correct in saying the opportunities in nursing are not plentiful. You have to remember the country has a population of just over 4 million. Try checking the individual District Health Boards' careers websites. The District Health Boards are health authorities responsible for a specific geographical area. For example, in the Auckland region there are 3, Auckland, Waitemata, and Counties Manukau District Health Boards. Each DHB has a main tertiary hospital (i.e. Auckland Hospital for ADHB, North Shore Hospital for WDHB, and Middlemore Hospital for CMDHB. There may even be secondary or primary health care facilities attached to a specific region.

Nursing is not as advanced here as it is in the US but it is constantly evolving. As to the nursing errors part, I'm not sure if the statistics support this. I find that nurses here are very chill and relaxed and errors do occur but you can also see that the government has put into place many systems to reduce healthcare-related errors. NZ does not have a litigation culture like the US, over here the government-funded ACC compensates people for injuries related to accidents and healthcare-related errors. NZ also places a great deal of emphasis on blaming the system, not the individual. Nurses don't get sued for money, but you can be sued for negligence and you could lose your license. As such, nurses here are required to fully disclose and notify their patients once an error has been identified.

My advise is:

1. Get your credentials assessed by the Nursing Council. You may also need to get them assessed by the NZQA (qualifications authority) for immigration purposes.

2. Be prepared to go jobless for at least 3-4 months (including the 2 months you will be doing your course).

3. Be prepared to work in regional areas (i.e. outside of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch).

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