A Dutch ER Nurse immigrating to New Zealand

Hello, my name is Wouter Verhoef, I’m a Dutch ER Nurse with many years of experience on the ED (Emergency Department) and together with my family are we in the process of immigrating to New Zealand. I have worked at multiple hospitals throughout the Netherlands and recently in the same role for 3,5 years on the ED in Norway. The reason I’ve started this blog is to share my experiences about the application process at the NZNC (New Zealand Nursing Council), job interviews we had with the hospitals we wanted to work for, the immigration process to NZ (New Zealand) and what it’s like to work as a RN on the ED in NZ compared to ED’s in the Netherlands and Norway.

Why this blog

There are several reasons why I want to write a blog about my experiences on how I obtained my Nursing Registration at the NZNC, found my job, moved to NZ from Norway together with my wife and daughter and what it is like to live and work in NZ. One of the main reasons is to reflect on the whole process we as a family went through, because this is not just something you do alone in a period of a few weeks. It takes a lot of time, costs, patience, frustration, searching, conversations and decision-making. But at the same time it is also an exciting process of getting closer to our goal of finding a place that we can call home. The other reasons are to improve my English while writing, to inform or advice you as a colleague also wanting to move to NZ, hopefully protecting you from the same mistakes I made, network and connect with other healthcare professionals/ curious readers and answer questions.

Who I am writing for

My main audience I’m writing for are nurses and other health care professionals from a non-English speaking European country willing to emigrate to NZ. For nurses from Australia and Canada, Ireland, Singapore, The United Kingdom and The United States of America other criteria for registration are used at the NZNC.

What to expect

In my first blogs I will mainly write about ‘how to get there’ and later on about my/ our emigration process, work on the ED and how it is like to live in NZ . While reading my blog I’ll provide you with links that refer to the official websites providing you with more information on how to find your way in the process of obtaining your Nursing Registration. I hope you’ll enjoy reading my blogs and find them helpful. I’m looking forward to answer your questions, networking with you as colleagues and to receive feedback on my blog.

Ngā Mihi,

Wouter

Me on the ED in Amsterdam.