Why nurse in New Zealand?

New Zealand's natural beauty is what most visitors comment on first! It has huge mountain ranges, fantastic ski fields, magnificent beaches, lush rainforests and an amazing coastline. The urban centres provide a café culture that embraces the outdoors with pavement dining and alfresco restaurants. The cities buzz with activity and cultural escapes but are not over crowded or expensive.

Career Opportunities

The New Zealand health care system is primarily modelled on the UK system with most services being free at the point of delivery. There is a strong emphasis on evidence based practice in all hospitals and the training here is second to none.

There are a large number of vacancies across all specialties in New Zealand and if you have qualifications from the UK, USA, Canada or South Africa you will generally be eligible for registration. Junior medical staff are required to have a minimum of 36 months western experience or have graduated from a European or North American university.

Lifestyle

Whether it's indoors or outdoors, on the beach or at the theatre, on the playing fields or in the garden, New Zealand has an inexhaustible range of things to do, see and enjoy.

Drawing on the richness of a thousand years of South Pacific heritage, New Zealand culture is youthful and diverse. Maori and Pacific cultural festivals and performing arts happily coexist with the more formal institutions like The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Most of New Zealanders live within half an hour's drive of the coast, so swimming, boating, diving and fishing are almost national pastimes. They also have 14 national parks and reserves where you can enjoy some of the world's most breathtaking bush walks. In winter, their 10 commercial ski fields and numerous club fields provide inexpensive yet challenging skiing, heli-skiing and snowboarding.

New Zealand has got more golf courses per capita than anywhere else in the world, and the average green fees are around NZ$30. Their city and regional councils provide extensive, well-kept playgrounds, swimming pools and other recreational facilities. On Saturdays, parks throughout the country host organised team sports like, rugby, netball, soccer, cricket and hockey.