UK nurses give up after long wait for approval to work in NZ
Welsh nurses Roya Valivand and Abigail Jones heard extreme staffing shortages would make it easy to get jobs nursing in New Zealand, but after waiting eight months for the approval needed to gain registration, they have given up.
Valivand and Jones, both 24, made the first step to register to practise nursing in New Zealand in March, hoping to work in an Auckland hospital. The pair have worked in an emergency department in Cardiff, Wales, for the past three years and decided they would like to see what nursing was like abroad.
They arrived in September but having still not heard back about their applications, they are unable to work.
International qualified nurses wanting to practise in New Zealand must first apply to the Nursing Council of New Zealand’s credentials verification service at CGFNS, an international organisation that verifies the documents the council requires.
In October, Jones finally had her application with CGFNS approved, but Valivand’s is still ‘pending’.
‘‘It’s bonkers, we were so eager to come out here and mainly wanted to work in [ED] and see what the differences were
compared to back home,’’ Valivand said.
The pair have spent more than two months travelling around the country in the hope they would soon be able to work.
‘‘It’s just frustrating, even now months into our travelling we still can’t work. It’s put a spanner in the works,’’ Valivand said.
On its website, CGFNS says once all documents that the Nursing Council requires have been submitted, it will take ‘‘approximately 30 days’’ for the documents to be verified.
‘‘The applicant then has a further 30 days to confirm their verification report before their application is transmitted to the Nursing Council,’’ it says.
Valivand said they have been unable to contact CGFNS to ask about the status of her application due to contact details being ‘‘sparse’’.
Nursing Council chief executive Catherine Byrne said since
January the council has received ‘‘record volumes’’ of applications from international nurses.
It has also registered record numbers, more than 3000 this year to date.
‘‘However, while a nurse may have nursing registration with the Nursing Council, this does not mean that they have also gained employment,’’ she said.
Byrne said the council is aware the time taken to generate a verification report varies.
After eight months and ‘‘wasted time and money’’ waiting for the application process, Valivand and Jones have given up and will instead get some bar work in Queenstown after their travels.