Yesterday we asked readers to give us their reasons not to move to New Zealand, here are some of their replies. Feel free to leave your reasons too.
Tanya1574
“1. Small-minded, xenophobic locals (not all, but many)
2. Hugely expensive produce, no variety in supermarkets
3. Above also applies to clothing
4. Above also applies to housing. Prohibitively expensive
5. Above also applies to child care
6. Shocking youth culture (drugs, alcohol, boy-racers etc)
7. Weather – better than some places, but if you come from a sunny, warm climate, NZ’s climate is a shock to the system. Lots of rains, lots of wind and extremely high humidity in summer
8. Low wages and jobs-for-buddies system. If you don’t know the right people and speak with the right accent, getting a decent job is almost impossible. Prepare to be washing dishes, driving a taxi, working in a call-centre or coffee bar etc (no matter how good your qualification/s and experience)All that said, if you have a lot of money and know enough people in NZ, in other words if you don’t need to work for a living and don’t need the locals for your social life, you might like it. It is beautiful and, for the most part, peaceful. Not great for teenagers though, but possibly to retire. NZ Immigration will welcome you (or more accurately, your money) with open arms as long as you don’t expect to earn a living or integrate into Kiwi society.”
William Boot
“My husband is self-employed and makes a very good living, I don’t need to work. We have money enough to travel abroad, travel in New Zealand, and pay for private education for our child. My husband is a NZer, with family and connections in the country. In other words, the kind of people you say might like New Zealand, yet we can’t wait to leave! My husband is pushing to move to the States by next year, so our child won’t have to attend a New Zealand school. I’ve wanted to move back to the States within a year of living here (I’ve been here more than five years).
Many of the reasons people choose to leave, or not even move to New Zealand in the first place are still there even if you have money. There is still a shocking amount of vandalism and robbery. The stores are still stocked with junk at extortianate prices. The housing stock is still substandard even for millionaires, which means you have to spend a lot of time and money and go through inordinate inconvenience just to have a comfortable home (and then it’s value may not necessarily increase because insulation, energy efficiency and comfort are not valued here), the supermarkets still lack variety, it’s not so easy to find a good meal when eating out, the hoons still dominate the streets, and most of all, it’s just a grubby and littered place that I find depressing to live in.
As for the scenery, it’s nothing special, and certainly nothing you couldn’t find elsewhere and better, in many cases. I’d rather travel abroad than stay here when I do travel, just like Kiwis themselves! I find it a bit depressing to go hiking and see so little birdlife in the bush. Most of the native wildlife has been exterminated, and the locals don’t seem to care much. There’s not much culture life in the cities either, so that avenue gets dried up pretty quickly. You end up living your life online, reading the papers to know what’s happening outside of New Zealand, and buying online to get things that are unavailable, or to expensive, or both.
Perhaps New Zealand is good place for some people – those that like to go pig hunting with their dogs, those who believe endless, treeless pastures are visions of a pristine landscape, young people who like to alter their cars to make them as loud as possible and race them at night, kleptomaniacs who are looking for an anemic justice system, people who don’t like to use public trash bins, people who don’t mind walking barefoot into a public restroom, those that are not picky about what they eat and are not interested in trying new things or cooking with a variety of ingredients, those that like canned spaghetti, sausages made with less than 70 percent meat, meals that are seasoned with ketchup, meat pies made with little meat and lots of powdered gravy…
In the end, there are beaches, you can go fishing, go can go boating. Living in New Zealand day to day seems an awfully high price to pay to do such things that can be done just as well elsewhere.
… the so-called brain drain that afflicts New Zealand is very real. The educated and by extension, those that will make a good living, leave in large numbers (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/imm_emi_rat_of_ter_edu_of_tot_ter_edu_pop-rate-tertiary-educated-total-population) The number of New Zealanders that live abroad all told is about 1 million. There is a reason New Zealand immigration so desperately wants people to go live there, especially professionals.”
P Ray
“And yet the immigrant professionals can’t find jobs because they don’t know the right people, don’t speak with the correct accent, or have the right name.
For some it becomes an endurance test. One would wonder whether NZIS “wants them” or “wants their money”.
Candace
Not to mention that see no evil attitude given all the above, I couldn’t stand it, it was like this –
Hateithere
“Hyped, very false advertising
So overpriced it is crazy, for the quality of anything you get, but especially basic needs such as housing
Nothing much to do but scenery, drinking and sports
Too far away from anything to make travel inexpensive
Poor public transportation
Provincial minded (only interested in national affairs, and in the national take on foreign affairs), parsimonious by necessity
People dodge as much responsibility as they can, and are not very friendly except superficially, Culture of Just good enough, whatever you can get away with is ok
Winters are cold, rainy, windy, no preference of a warm indoors exists
There is a predatory mentality towards immigrants and foreigners
The people are not curious intellectually and have a myopic sense of humour
The people want to minimise conflict to the point of ignoring problems until it is too late
Drug problem is all over, they are too permissive and too many teens are out of control and degenerate
Palm greasing society, it’s who you know not what you know, even in official or justice situations where there should be transparency and rectitude
Bully culture with high youth suicide rate.”
Screenwriterpete
“Everything! EVERYTHING that people are saying about this unfriendly, ungenerous, parochial small-minded, big-headed arrogant country is correct, We are currently in the process of moving back to the UK as having to exist amongst these appallingly opinionated self-centred people is utterly intolerable. We have enough money not to have to work but we find it excruciating being here. And did anyone mention thin-skinned??? Even the most casual criticism of anything Kiwi will see you face a barrage of defensive rubbish that soon verges on personal hatred. Kiwis like to dish it out, but even when presented with facts refuse to accept them. If you’ve ever lived anywhere in Europe or North America, you’ll find the Kiwi mentality and outlook and cheapness, their parsimony, and their personal and national self-delusion utterly intolerable. It’s a shockingly horrible place to isolate yourself (and you WILL be isolated). Cannot wait to get out of here – we’re talking weeks, not even months – and get back to civilisation and decent people.”
Jonesie
“I agree with all of the above. I moved here 3+ years ago from the Canada, and am homesick often. Although there are some issues with the Canada, I find the people here to be incredibly ignorant — yes, it is the “just good enough” mentality, and customer service is something foreign. No one strives to be better. I have no one to have an intelligent conversation with. The health care system is akin to a 3rd world country with people on waiting lists for 2 years for surgery. Nurses are essentially nurses aides, by American or Canadian standards. There is a “nark on your co-worker” mentality here, that I have not seen elsewhere, but have been told this also exists in Australia. I guess this is what they call TALL POPPY syndrome, and it is very real. In other words, if you are a go-getter — they will cut you down. They actually punish people who are creative or innovative here, and that defines tall poppy syndome — if one is standing too tall, cut it down. What I would have to say I miss most is my profession (nursing) being PROFESSIONAL, and the sense of humor the doctors from other countries had compared to here. But then again, we had different standards of nursing – and the nurses here who have RN’s are equivalent to enrolled nurses elsewhere. Doctors have GOD mentality, so if you question them (as you would in any developed country) — they look at you as if to say “How DARE you question me?” My education is better than most of these doctors, and I was told that most 2nd year NZ med-students don’t have basic understanding of human physiology. I asked one of the nurses here how many years of Anatomy & Physiology she has had, and she said “What’s that?”It took me 2 years to get the heck out of nursing, and I have a Master’s degree. I had to take the fact that I was Canadian off my resume. No one will give you an interview for even the most menial jobs if they know you are a foreigner. This is so sad….there are tons of really smart Indian doctors here who cannot get registered (they think their own health care force is high & mighty but their education here is the bottom of the barrel compared to other countries) so they are driving cabs. I would rather have these guys as a doctor than the small-minded NZ doctors who DO NOT listen to their patients.
A woman told me that her mother went through breast cancer, & the doctor simply would not listen to her. The doctors do what is best for THEM and not the patients. I know someone else (another immigrant) that went back to school to do engineering work because she watched a doctor kill someone (after she warned him that the patient immediately needed IV meds) When she complained to the DHB, they asked her to retract the letter. So you see, if you are a nurse – you are simply not valued here. I make 20% of what i made in Canada for the same work.
My partner loves it here. We do talk alot about the mentality — and I have very few friends really. NZers like to gossip, and I am not into this…I find it petty. For this reason, I keep to myself.
I honestly don’t think we will be here forever — but I am getting out of nursing. Going back to school to do something else. I believe all the good nurses go to Australia. They cannot go to USA or Canada, because these nurses would never be able to pass the exams to practice.
I figure, since we are here — I want to get SOMETHING out of it, and not feel that being here was a complete waste of time.
Oh yeah – the racism… unbelievable! Never seen anything like it. If you don’t look or talk like they do, they will have a label for you.
And Kiwis never compliment each other — so if you do it, they just look at you suspiciously.”
Astro
Hi Jonesie, finally someone who ‘gets’ it about nursing in New Zealand.
I have been in NZ for 35 years, came from Australia for a working holiday aged 16 and never left. (Bad family environment back home so nothing to go back to really). My first exposure to the strangeness of NZ’ers was during my first job here. I was shocked and mortified at how my colleagues treated me as an Australian. The jokes were not nice. The men were strange, several accusing me of being “selfish” for choosing to wear knee length skirts rather than mini skirts. Though I did not realize it at the time, I had been greeted by xenophobia and misogyny. Several weeks later, staff began a nasty argument, insulting remarks flying, the subject matter being who were the superior NZ’ers, North or South Islanders. I was utterly floored, it was proof that NZ’s were just plain weird, and I never took any notice of Australian hate jokes again.
In ’77 I joined the RNZN, serving for eight years. Two of us were Australians, 38 were NZ’ers. IQ tests… guess which two recruits scored the highest? Hmmmm That was an issue that came back to wreak havoc in my life years later, following my divorce from my misogynist violent kiwi husband.
In 2000, I chose to study nursing as a mature student. I absolutely loved it and did believe that nursing was my calling. I was also exceptionally good at it, and had a very particular talent at establishing a rapport with patients. To this day I remain proud of having changed lives during my time as a student nurse. Somehow patients were able to confide in me their most embarrassing secrets, sufferings they had lived quietly with for years, too embarrassed to share with anyone, yet they did with me. I was able to arrange life changing interventions for them. Perhaps they recognised integrity, a very rare character trait in this country, and almost absent from the medical professions here also. (But you know that).
I had absolutely no problems with the academic portion of the training before my real problems began, and at this point must add that I loved Anatomy & Physiology, always have, from the time I used to make my family ill when I would choose dinner time to discuss the frog, liver fluke & sheep head dissections in biology lab at school, and describe the digestive tract from mouth to anus. In fact my mother once said as a joke that I should be a nurse. Who knew???
Something unsettling began to happen though. I found myself a regular contributer during class. I do not think I was a smart-arse, I was simply well read and knowledgeable. (I loved research too!) I found often that when a question was put to the class, I seemed to be the only student with the answer. I am not talking about difficult questions here, to me most of the answers were just plain common sense. On several occasions I challenged the tutors and proved myself correct and them incorrect, albiet in a friendly professional manner, as one does! One tutor, the Year Two Head began making comments. She would often say “L you seem to know a lot”, or “L you are very knowledgeable”, but the comments were delivered sarcastically. This is when the other students began avoiding me, unless they needed my help with something, because even they sensed the tutors had me in their sights. I became frustrated, deliberately not contributing, not making myself a target, just trying to find that right balance. Have you any idea how difficult it is to dumb down?? It is VERY hard. Something else that frustrated me was… I left school at 14. I did not have higher education prior to these studies, yet every body around me was so GOD DAMNED DUMB! How the hell did these people even feed themselves? I mean the tutors also, or most of them at least, not all. So many of the students were so clueless but were being given a free ride, free re-sits etc., time and time again. I just thought “OK, ignore it, find the right balance, just sail through it”. Then however I hit rocks, and the fight for my life began.
One of my patients had been abused by a nurse. I went in in the morning to find her cowering in her bed, knees drawn up, covers pulled up tight under her chin, looking terrified. She was a very nice American woman in her early 50′s, very frail, a great deal of pain much of the time, wheel chair bound 80% of the time, couldn’t touch her anywhere without feeling the grating. You know the diagnosis. All she wanted was help to go to the toilet at 3:00 in the morning, so she rang the bell. The nurse must have been watching the shopping channel or something equally important to her, and did not take well to the interruption. My patient told me everything that was said (read screamed) and done. My patient was so genuinely terrified she said to me “What if she comes back tonight, what if she puts a pillow over my face! It happens you know, you read about it! If I have to go to the toilet tonight, I’m too scared to ring the bell. I’ll just wet the bed. You don’t mind do you, If the bed is wet tomorrow morning…do you?” She was wide eyed and rambling, and quite scared, so I advocated for her. To be honest I gave the nurse not a second thought, and an incident report was filed.
I had cut my own throat. Every ward i went to received word ahead of my arrival that I was to be got rid of. I was not wanted in the profession. I had committed to greatest sin in nursing, I had betrayed a nurse. My professional responsibility was to turn around and walk away from the patient, protect the abuser, but oh no, I had to protect the patient. My sin was unforgivable. I was set up, fitted up, harassed where ever I went. They actually broke board policies as they harassed me. On campus I was being worked over by the tutors, harassed and victimised, deliberately failed on my formatives because they could do it, my summatives gone over with a microscope and failed on something as small as a missing full stop. And they lied. They just lied and lied and lied. Like many people I have viewed the odd American Soap Opera. You know how some of the characters are just so EVIL. I thought people like that could not exist in the real world, that it was just fiction, a fairy tale, but at my School of Nursing I met evil and looked it in the eyes. It’s real.
I was under so much stress my hair was falling out, I had a bald patch on one side. The student association president faked helping me, didn’t want to piss off the faculty. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation student rep led me right up the garden path. I learned that they are not the union they pretend to be at all, that is a joke, the are a club, and I was no longer welcome to join. I fought hard but in the end they broke me. They got me on my last clinical placement, I was fitted up and hung out to dry. Six weeks to go till State Finals, and they broke me. I had been fighting to survive for 18 months. The incident with the nurse abuser was the middle of year two.
It’s been 10 years and it still makes me cry. I still cry sometimes when I muse over what they stole from me. They stole my future, my hope for independence, and left me with a Student Loan debt I will never be able to pay off in my life time. I wonder though if perhaps this was the way it was meant to be, if it was to save me, to prevent me from turning into one of THEM. I saw so much abuse in nursing, horizontal and vertical abuse among the staff, and abuse of patients. I saw a nurse kill a patient; she refused to carry out a task she was asked to do, said it was “yukky”, did not do it, the patient died, she got away with it because the order from the doctor was verbal, through me. He told me to tell my preceptor, which I did. I couldn’t say anything because the order was not in writing so he could deny having given a verbal order, and she could have denied having received the verbal order through me. Death by nurse!
New Zealand nurses are incredibly unhygienic, it’s no wonder there are so many nosocomial infections in this country. They just don’t wash their hands and rarely wear gloves. One example – a nurse handled with her bare hands an expelled urinary catheter (female patient), did not wash her hands, then responded to another patient’s request to peel his orange please, which she did for him, with filthy hands. I could cite examples that would make your skin crawl.
The incompetence and arrogance is mindblowing. I saw one nurse irrigating a wound with cold saline and mentioned warming it to tepid, citing research, and her response was “Oh, I don’t believe that”. Another patient in Cardio Thoracic exhibited a slight Parkinsonian gait, but Parkinson’s Disease was not in his records. When I pointed it out to my preceptor she replied “Ignore it, that’s not what he’s here for”. In that ward all post op’s used a commode chair, but the chairs were never cleaned. Some had fecal matter on them, the nurses didn’t care, the patients didn’t know because the chair was behind them. I cleaned all the chairs and the nurses considered me an upstart for doing it. I must have seen one example of blatant incompetence every day. Some disgraceful, some downright dangerous. NZ nurses do not like learning either. Once they graduate they undertake only the further learning they are forced to do. They have no interest in voluntary professional development. It’s just about the money, which happens to be very good. That is the only thing nursing has going for it today. Also, when I studied some openly admitted their primary goal was to marry a doctor. A few, but just a few, complete, graduate, and never pursue a nursing career. They are just so disgusted with nursing culture, so offended by it, they don’t want to be part of it. At my local pharmacy one of the assistants was a nurse who left the profession before it killed her soul, and I have met a few others.
The medical professions in New Zealand are a horror story. Most doctors are exactly as you have described. Except mine that is, but he’s Chinese LOL. (True that). It has been a long letter, and maybe no one will ever read it, and I must not forget to state exactly where I studied. It was Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua, north of Wellington. The hospital where the patient abuse incident took place was Hutt Hospital, Medical Ward, but revenge was carried out at various wards at Wellington Hospital. The Whitereia School of Nursing will be no different to any other in New Zealand. I believe the same thing would have happened no matter which school I enrolled with. I also believe I would have received the same treatment at every hospital in New Zealand. The entire nursing and medical culture here is evil and rotten to the core. Well that’s me. Astro out!
PS I could not have moved to another town to do it again, it would have followed me. Somehow where ever I went, it would have found me, and it would have started again, I firmly believe that. Going to Australia to study there was never an option. I have children here, they were teenagers who needed me then so I could not have gone on my own, and I could not have ripped them away from their lives, schools and friends just to pursue my dream. Now, I am just too old to start again…..and I am ashamed to say that if I had a do over, I would calm my patient down, and take it no further. A student nurse does not have the luxury of ethics. Ethics can destroy her/his career before it has ever begins. That is also the reason New Zealand RN’s rarely possess any ethical sense, or integrity. By the time they graduate any of it they ever had has been killed, they are immune to good influence. They have become pack animals. That is the nursing culture in this country. The nursing council periodically discusses workplace violence, but they don’t really care. They have no interest really in stopping it. They just have to be seen discussing it, that’s all. Bad nurses here are not pushed out, they are pushed up. The violence will never stop. Why do nurses eat their young? Why not…it just feels so damned good.”
Keep them coming…
E2NZ.org 
Very nice website! It is super intersting to find this type of information from people who actually lived in NZ. I am brazilian and I have visited NZ 2 years ago and I became super atonished with the beauty and variety of activities I could do there. It was a fantastic experience and I was really decided to move there. But now, reading the comments from people that actually lived there, I get a better undestanding and it made me realize the country might not be what I was thinking in terms of living. Thanks a lot for sharing!
It is very true what has been already said about nursing in New Zealand. Thankfully I trained in the UK but I did “upgrade” from Hospital Diploma (I trained on the wards) to a degree at Unitec. I have worked in many places; mostly in Auckland. The prevalence of Tall Poppy Syndrome and workplace bullying is mind-blowing. It is very much a culture of “tell-tales”, disloyalty (even when you think you have a good relationship), non-integrity, psycopathy, and outright cowardice. Everyone covers their own backsides and f##k everything and everyone else. I believe that what underlies these repugnant traits is basically low self esteem and general stupidity masquerading as righteous indignation; many Kiwis seem to think they don’t need to DO a job well, rather, they think it sufficient to constantly point out the shortcomings (real or invented) of their co-workers in order to boost their own standing with the higher ups, and the most revolting thing about this phenomenon as that it actually seems to work for them! Not only are these cretins elevated to the lofty position of “bosses pet” where the simpering Judases receive preferential treatment, but these machinations then lead into the next phase of the process – the INQUISITION! The sheer bodacious-ness, the glee with which these petty-minded and pathetic individuals will seize upon the tiniest misdemeanour, or “Chinese whisper” big-eared eavesdropper’s garbled inanity quoted out of context. People literally hiding around corners to “catch you” out. “DIDN’T initial a drug chart within 3 seconds of dispensing? “Off with your head!” – or the modern equivalent of an incident report being filed with your name on it, a barrage of please explain memos/emails and a waggling-fingered maleficent admonition that “this is going on your personnel file” and a damning report to the Nursing Council. I worked with one fat troglodyte who on taking a team leader position triumphantly regaled (threatened) the nurses with how many nurses’ badges she “had had” in her position on the Nursing Council Disciplinary Committee (but what in truth was a token Maori position on the Advisory Committee). Have these people got such empty lives that they need to invent and inhale these dramas to feel satisfied in their wretched, pitiable, execrable existences? Corruption is not just common, but is woven into the very fabric of this superficial, ignorant, boorish and self-deluded dystopian backwater. The place really is “Deliverance meets 1984” on the arse end of the planet. Thank God I am back in the old country now.
I have lived in NZ for almost 20 years, and every one of them has been a struggle. I find the cost of living huge and wages too low. Food is too eexpensive, clothes are too expensive and shoddy. No variety in the supermarkets, boutiques or shopping malls in general. The culture is both tacky and superficial. Making friends is hard, most of the friendships Ive made have been UK/US/Irish or basically, foreigners, like me! Kiwis dont value their friends like us Brits. The fail in trying to develop a NZ in order to have a place in the world is pathetic. There is no culture!! The clean and green mentality is rubbish…there is more pollution around me in the last 3 years than my whole 28 years I lived in UK ( and I live semi rurally!). I am moving home. My son finishes school this year and I know he will need to upskill ” up educate” in order to study in UK, Im not making the same mistake with my younger son, he is 11 and if he gets into the British education system now, his chances of getting into Uni will be far easier. In general, I hate NZ. Its all about rugby, hunting, fishing and men who wouldnt know how to treat a lady with respect. The people are small minded, ignorant, and have no sense of humour or originality whatsoever. Its true that they are like sheep…they all follow each other with no desire to be different….and God forbid you if you are! Thats when you get pushed back, because of their insecurities and envy of anyone who has a shred of difference to them, be warned. My advice…if you REALLY have the desire to check NZ out, do your homework thoroughly and dont let anything trick you into believing what you believe. If you take a vacation here, then understand that anywhere is ok on a vacation. I am really looking forward to the last years of my life on homesoil around true English people who are inspiring and funny, original and unique..Im looking forward to actually having fun things to do at a third of the cost and mostly…to look at interesting history, patchwork fields, a variety of animals that graze them and a mixture of trees…it beats looking a flat paddocks filled with one variety of sheep…Hello England and goodbye NZ!!!
[Troll post deleted, perhaps you should lay off the Kool-Aid? Admin]
Making a choice to leave the country of your birth is a difficult decision. I remember looking forward with a positive attitude ready to embrace the good and bad and determined to make this new life work no matter what. I held onto the belief that South Africa was finished and there was no future there.
Over the 20 years of living in New Zealand I have never been able to put roots down and feel settled. Not for lack of trying as I have studied, changed career, moved house and area, bought a holiday home, tried a motorhome,done the annual overseas holiday and anything else I thought would help, but nothing has.
I have just returned from a five week stay in SA and despite the crime, crazy traffic and potholes, toll roads, not to mention family drama, I haven’t felt so alive. The people both black and white were friendly and interesting, everyone is out and about living life. The weather as always was amazing.
It dawned on me that God has not forgotten Africa and She does have a future.
My children have been fortunate enough to have been educated in NZ and they have had the opportunities here that they may never had in SA for that I am grateful.
What does the future hold for me, I don’t know but I know this. South Africa is now an option for me, warts and all.
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As a New Zealander who has lived in New Zealand and also Australia (Sydney) for a year, and now UK (London) for the last eight years, I have to say I don’t agree with many of the above generalisations about New Zealand. There are a range of different people, issues and problems in every country, I think. There are some small-minded people, people who ‘gossip’, racist people, etc, in every country, including in New Zealand – no more in NZ than in any most other countries, in my experience. I definitely don’t think it’s realistic – or accurate – to make generalisations about any country or people. I’m not saying that to be ‘defensive’ of NZ, but to try to give a more accurate picture of what it’s like. There are a lot of accepting, open-minded, tolerant, (most in my personal experience) and intelligent people in NZ. I can’t comment on the medical profession in NZ, as I’m not in that profession or an expert on it. I’d have to look at the evidence and research findings before I could comment. As a recipient (patient) of public healthcare in both NZ, Australia and UK, I’d say that I’ve found them comparable. Again, I’m sure there are a range of good (and not no good) individual practitioners in every country. In regard to things like the weather, the variety available in shops, etc, etc, well that’s all relative and a matter of personal opinion I think! Personally, I like the weather in Australia the best, followed by NZ, and the weather in the UK the least! – but that’s only my personal preference.
Whether or not you agree is irrelevant. The fact is that many people have encountered these issues when they lived in New Zealand, no degree of your personal opinion is going to take that away from them. And perhaps you should at least admit they have a point – afterall, there’s a reason why you live in London and not New Zealand…isn’t there?
Interesting how NZ always seems to look better the further away one is from it.
I feel the same as SafefromNewZealand when I visited Kyoto earlier in the year
Hi everyone, this is my first comment on this thread, or any thread for that matter. My wife, myself and my three children emigrated to nz two years ago. Recently I have had huge urges to move back to the uk, my wife however loves it here and doesn’t want to leave.
The things I hate about nz the most are the xenophobic yocales I have met everywhere I have been (We live in Upper Hutt). It’s true, pakeha are a small minded people, who have an unwarranted sense of entitlement to the land they live in. They are racists towards the Maori people which is the root of much of the social problems in nz. Dysfunction is everywhere, huge decide between rich and poor, with not much in between.
I HATE the gangs of New Zealand which are prevalent in Upper Hutt, I cannot comment on other places, but from what I’ve heard it’s bad pretty much everywhere. Every day there is a rape or stabbing or murder or home invasion with rape in the Hutt valley.
The teenagers of nz are a disgrace, drugs, underage sex, violence, pregnancy etc etc, much worse than uk.
Ridiculous roads, no motorways outside of Auckland. The roads are twisty and turns with traffic lights every few hundred yards (I miss the M4 so much).
It is definitely a case of who you know not what you know here, so don’t expect to get a decent job even if you are will trained unless you secure it before you come over here.
Boy racers, V6 ute’s everywhere, skin cancer, useless supermarkets with no choice and ONLY nz and oz wine. Everything is expensive, food, cars, houses, groceries, eating out, etc, etc, except for parking, which is usually free in small towns, and ginger, ginger is freaking cheap here but that’s about it.
I’d be out of here tomorrow if it were just up to me. I know that I could convince my wife to leave if I really wanted to but it would break her heart. I feel stuck here, stuck and alone and fxxxxing pissed off. Fxxk this country.
Hi Trinity, good to hear from you. Have you tried talking things over with your wife – told her how you feel? Putting aside your own misgivings for a while and emphasizing the effects New Zealand may have on your children may be a way to get her to look at things differently.
We hear from many people in the same situation as you where one person loves NZ and the other keeps quiet about loathing it, you’re not alone in that respect.
Don’t be afraid to try an extended trip home and seeing if you could re-establish yourself there. We know of many successful migrations out of New Zealand and the outside world isn’t as black as the NZ press would have you believe – certainly no worse than NZ itself.
I agree with E2NZ. My Kiwi wife had never seriously considered the idea of emigrating, although she always realised something was not quite right in New Zealand and had a longing for Switzerland. However, after we took a trip to Switzerland and Europe in May/June she realised just how massively backward and behind New Zealand was and told me she wanted to leave ASAP. She especially noted how my friends in Europe were light years ahead to the bumpkins in New Zealand in terms of education. Fortunately, she had a Swiss passport by descent, so the process was very easy.
From personal experience, the longer you remain in New Zealand, the more difficult it becomes to extricate yourself. It is not merely a question funds from the low wages and spending a fortune making the move from the other end of the world and trying to establish yourself in New Zealand. The challenges are also psychological.
For example, I had “good” jobs by New Zealand standards, but I feel a loss of confidence applying for certain roles after the Kiwi HR bumpkins summarily rejected me or never communicated back. They always found candidates with “better credentials” despite the eventual people hired being incompetent morons. I am not going to allow the feelings of rejection to hinder me, but the psychological angst is there.
Similarly, I owned a relatively successful small business in Alaska, but I never found a suitable business to start or buy in my nearly three years in New Zealand. In hindsight, I am thankful that I did not imperil my money, but one still feels like somewhat of a failure.
Nonetheless, moving to Switzerland a month and a half ago was an excellent decision. My wife found a job where she makes triple what she earned in New Zealand with much greater responsibility and opportunities for progression despite her knowing very little German. We love the quality of life here. This weekend, we were able to go to a charity concert to listen to some great musicians. Last weekend, we went to Zermatt to play in the snow. We move into our apartment on 1 January.
I still feel a bit dejected, as I have not found a job yet. However, my wife’s Swiss relatives and recruiters all assure me that I will find something in January. Most hiring stops in late November/December and no one leaves their job at the end of the year because they get paid double in December, something I expected when I moved here.
Nonetheless, I sometimes talk to people here who seem incredulous that I would leave “paradise” (i.e. New Zealand). The mendacious Kiwis certainly market themselves well.
My advice is to leave while you can. Despite seeing the downside of New Zealand, it took me about two years to grasp fully what a cesspool it was. I would persuade your wife to go or even send her the link to this blog. People that make a major life altering decision, such as moving to another country, often subconsciously trick themselves into thinking they made the right move to avoid admitting failure. There are also the rose-coloured spectacles where things appear different and cool for the first six months or a year. I would strongly urge you to persuade her to leave. You will regret it if you do not leave.
[Deleted. Don’t troll.]
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Sorry we could publish your other comments Shayna, please read our guidelines and you’ll know Y they were not fit for publication.
So much cynicism about New Zealand here. I have lived in NZ
for 14 years on/off now (emigrating from South Africa,), also
living in USA, England and Germany, and have found a lot of these
comments unjustified. Sure kiwis are a little small minded and
self-opinionated, but name a country who isn’t?. My mother had no
trouble switching her medical degree and works with great people
(foreigners and locals). Depending on where you go in NZ can have a
dramatic difference. In general, kiwi’s are warm hearted,
respectable and sincere. I cannot disagree on kiwi’s being naive,
but ignorant is definitely not the term ( NZ’ers just generally
don’t care about what atrocities other countries are committing
against each other). The weather is temperate, fairly hot in summer
and fairly cold in winter, and if you travel enough you will
discover it is truly a beautiful country (in terms of nature) As
for the TRUE reasons why NOT to live here; the high school
education system is abysmal, things generally take a long time to
do here (city developments, infrastructure proposals, etc.), youth
culture is a down hill slide (with exceptions of course), political
correctness will annoy you to the point you want to punch the
television, children and parents alike lack courtesies that are
taken for granted in other countries, the cost of living is high.
houses in cities are very overpriced, lack of culture (not
including the indigenous culture, Maori, which includes a whole new
level of political correctness), a crazy obsession with Rugby
(verging on fanatical),minimum wage is more like average wage, and
probably a few more i cannot think up right now. In summary, NZ can
be a lovely place to live for some (particularly retirees),
especially out of the cities. It has its flaws, but the flaws do
not out-weigh the good. In all, I am rather glad to have moved to
New Zealand, and after experiencing living in a few other ‘first
world countries’…I would have to say I’m glad to be living
here.
Thanks for your comments Jonathan, many of the negatives you listed there would be deal breakers for some people. Poor high school education in itself is enough to make folk leave, Kiwis included.
What your post demonstrates is that people have different tolerances and limits of acceptability. After 14 years you’ve found a way to live with the downsides, good luck to you. Don’t be afraid to try other places though, the world is a big place and there’s much to commend life outside of New Zealand.
Stumbled upon this interesting site. I am from the UK and have visited New Zealand 4 times in the last 3 years; a total of 24 weeks and am in the process of trying to get residency. I haven’t seen much in the 24 weeks of what you are talking about on this site. New Zealand is a big place and it makes me wonder if your site is just talking about Auckland. I spent a week with incredibly friendly new zealand folks. Maybe we have to look inside ourselves. People are the same the world over. I have never heard so much whining and griping. You have to take the weather with you where you go and it’s what’s inside that counts; you cannot expect others to fulfill your expectations!
What part of New Zealand are you headed for and do you already have a job offer?
Well John, since you’ve spent 24 weeks in 3 years, you have absolutely no idea. What you’ve actually done still constitutes nothing more than a few holidays. So wait until you’ve been LIVING there a year or so. Most people don’t take that long to find out what the place is. As for your comment about whining, well you can bet your life you’ll hear plenty of whining, From kiwis. You should reserve that sort of comment for when you actually know what you’re talking about. I’ve travelled all over the world and LIVED and owned property in six different countries (so far – and all of them a billion miles better than this place). I comment from a position of knowledge and EXPERIENCE. I don’t whine – I explain EXACTLY what I EXPERIENCE. But you know what? Good luck with your move to Retardicon 6. I sincerely hope you have LOTS of money to move with and won’t end up stuck in a LOW-WAGE economy (assuming you get and retain a job) with a mortgage that will take all you earn. I have spent two stints living in New Zealand, 1990 to 1996 and 2007 to 2012. The difference in the country between my first stint there and that last one is immense. And the changes ALL for the worse. But since you never noticed all the negative aspects of the place and its people on your four holidays to the country, and you absolutely refuse to believe all the warnings and advice you see on this site (because clearly your four little holidays constitute greater experience than everyone who has actually lived there) you go ahead. But let’s hope we don’t hear you “whining” once the reality and the realisation of it sink in. And listen at you, telling everyone “You have to take the weather with you where you go and it’s what’s inside that counts; you cannot expect others to fulfill your expectations!” Ha ha ha – you really want to say that to people who’ve actually done it, lived it, when all you’ve done so far is have a few holidays? Wow, that’s rich. Good luck. I look forward to reading your non-whiney comments here after you’ve experienced at least a year of LIVING there.
There are certain conditions that make New Zealand an easy place to get “stuck” in. Better hope nothing happens to you that isn’t peachy. You’ll be lucky to escape with all your limbs. Stay on that narrow little path, lucky immigrant! The way down is steep and the valley strewn with bodies.
Everything! EVERYTHING that people are saying about this unfriendly, ungenerous, parochial small-minded, big-headed arrogant country is correct, We are currently in the process of moving back to the UK as having to exist amongst these appallingly opinionated self-centred people is utterly intolerable. We have enough money not to have to work but we find it excruciating being here. And did anyone mention thin-skinned??? Even the most casual criticism of anything Kiwi will see you face a barrage of defensive rubbish that soon verges on personal hatred. Kiwis like to dish it out, but even when presented with facts refuse to accept them. If you’ve ever lived anywhere in Europe or North America, you’ll find the Kiwi mentality and outlook and cheapness, their parsimony, and their personal and national self-delusion utterly intolerable. It’s a shockingly horrible place to isolate yourself (and you WILL be isolated). Cannot wait to get out of here – we’re talking weeks, not even months – and get back to civilisation and decent people.
Hi pete, would you consider telling your story for our readers? We’ll publish it in our series of Migrant Tales.
Sure I will. But it may take me a few days to get back to you. I am in the middle of sorting out our return back to England, so I’m juggling a hundred and one things at the moment. I’m married to a kiwi girl and she hates this place with a fury. We came back here from England five years ago, and thought we were the only ones who were seeing this place for what it really is. But on finding your blog the other day, I can see that many, many others see what we see. I will leave you with this for now. Once we leave here (sometime in the next three months) we will never, EVER come back, not even to visit. Loathsome hovel of a country it is. We call it “Retardicon 6” for reasons I’m sure you can work out for yourself. I will give you our story in the next few days.
Pete
maybe Susan’s brother doesn’t care about his job anymore because he went native –
http://www.3news.co.nz/Northland—drugs-capital-of-NZ/tabid/367/articleID/204424/Default.aspx
Susan, you should get out more, maybe you can have another lovely experience, like this one:
This adds a bit of balance to all those scenery videos, don’t you agree?
Shameful behaviour. I am shocked by this behaviour. I grew up in NZ until I was 17 and moved abroad 25yrs. Overseas is a better option – NZ has not changed. I remember distinctly being bashed by many youths when growing up. They seem to have big chip on their shoulders. This sort of behaviour is what I remember and what scarred me for life.
Yes a beautiful country – but the outspoken, narrow mindedness of some Kiwi’s is very off putting.
I’m a Kiwi, born and bred and it’s with total sadness I would have to agree with much of what has been posted. The old New Zealand, before NZ started trying to be better than everyone else and started to claim superiority, was a much happier and welcoming place to live.
NZ is now a grab what you can and stuff everyone else society and has become simply an unpleasant place to live. We are simpletons trying to play an inteligent game and not doing very well at all. We would be far better off if we accepted the fact that we are a third world country simply trying to play first world and wiped the facade we portray to each other and the rest of the world.
Thanks for your comments Susan, but vacationing in a place is very different from working and living in it all year round, as many of our readers will tell you.
Perhaps after you’ve been living in New Zealand for a few years, experienced a few winters, put your young son through NZ’s education system, budgeted on a NZ salary and worked for a NZ employer, then you’ll be better qualified to give a more balanced view of what its really like to live in NZ.
Its not just the immigrants that are dissatisfied. Outward migration from New Zealand is at an all time high as more and more Kiwis leave.
my brother moved to new zealand 4 yeras ago from the UK at the age of 28. he had no problems getting a job, an apartment and certainly none making friends! the healthcare is better than the NHS here according to him and the people are all very friendly and accepting. in the UK we have a problem with “neds” and “chavs” but there is no such thing in auckland. the school children are all pleasant and respectful and the food is fabulous! the only thing i can agee with that i’ve read above was the high cost of meat and dairy but when we compared prices of today in the uk, there wasn’t a massive difference and having stayed in california, definately no more expensive than there!
my brothers whole attitude and demeaner has changed since he moved there, he’s far less stressed and doesn’t worry about his job anymore.
maybe people who are concerned about “whistleblowing” at work should make sure there’s nothing to blow a whistle on! i have found thousands of hits online for sites just the opposite of this one whereas sites like this are only a handful. not everyone is capable of living anywhere in the world and i think you should put your negative experiences in that category.
last year myself and my 8 year old son visited for 4 months. i rented a beautiful house which cost me less than my rent in britain, met people who were so friendly it was unreal and ate some fabulous food! we spent 6 months in san diego the year before and tbh the only real difference was that the people in SD were far less friendly than in auckland.
i appreciate that everyone is different but i thought i would try and give people a better balanced view of the place.
i know this was mentioned above but sometimes it’s not the place that isn’t right, it’s your attitude while there.
“i have found thousands of hits online for sites just the opposite of this one whereas sites like this are only a handful. ”
Of course! that’s the power of propaganda, NZ is interested in presenting a fake nice image to the world to attract more suckers to its shores, that’s why there are so many of those pimp sites. Try to dissent in one of those forums and you will be quickly silenced.
Being a rich tourist is not the same as being an immigrant trying to survive, especially if you are poor and coloured. Even kiwis are leaving in droves, such is the poverty and hopelessness in this land.
“i appreciate that everyone is different but i thought i would try and give people a better balanced view of the place.”
No need for that. Plenty of pimp sites, and ridiculous quality of life surveys out there.
Susan, I have to say several things you say just aren’t true. For example: “in the UK we have a problem with “neds” and “chavs” but there is no such thing in auckland.” Ned and chav may not be labels people use here in New Zealand, but just as in Britain, there is a violent underclass that harrass and commit act of violence. They are numerous and found throughout NZ, including Auckland.
Also, you say that New Zealand is not more expensive than California. Well, I’ve lived in NZ for six years, but have taken numerous and lengthy trips to the US, including California. New Zealand IS more expensive than California, often much more so. This is not an opinion, it is a fact. I love going to CA because it is so much less expensive to eat a meal out, and when I pay for a hotel, I actually get one with MODERN conveniences, which is something that is not commonly found in NZ.
You say you had fabulous food here in NZ. I understand that is a subjective comment, but I most certainly do not think the food is fabulous here. Certainly not the food you pay for in a restaurant, and I think a lot of Kiwis agree with that. Take a look at dining reviews on the dine out nz site to get a more balanced view on this topic.
As for there being more sites that say NZ is so wonderful, if you can’t tell the difference between a site like this one, and the ones that are trying to make money by attracting tourists and immigrants, then maybe you and NZ are a good fit.
You say, “i rented a beautiful house which cost me less than my rent in britain, met people who were so friendly it was unreal and ate some
fabulous food!” This comment is so over the top that my conclusion is that you might be a Kiwi.
Have you read about all the friendly Kiwis over in Rotorua?
Take a look at this recent assault:
Shoplifters violently assaulting employees at the local supermarket
AND
in today’s news:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10778479
a vicious attack on a pregnant woman, also in Rotorua.
It’s business as usual here in New Zealand, and no ridiculously over the top praise is going to change the reality of life here.
Thanks for your comment William. That video is a shocker sure enough, as you say – they may not be called neds or chavs but NZ definitely has a violent and criminal underclass.
We saw that a pregnant woman had been dragged out of a shop and savagely beaten in the tourist town of Rotorua whilst 20 people stood-by and watched the assault. Not one person came to her aid. “Bystander apathy” the NZ Herald called it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10778479
Also in the news today, the shocker that benefit fraud is costing millions of dollars every year and government staff are among those defrauding the system.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10778408
Both are symptoms of fractured society and there are many, many more we could cite but the point has been made.
Maybe if she had been a tourist she would have been flooded with letters and teddy bears telling her not to hate New Zealand and please come back and visit for a 15 percent discount. Residents and natives do not receive that level of “care”. The bystanders probably thought it was just another Maori DV spat, one out of millions that don’t matter to anyone.
Relieved to have found this site. I was beginning to think I was crazy!!! Tall poppy syndrome and land of the living dead. Help me!!!!! 😉
I agree with all of the above. I moved here 3+ years ago from the Canada, and am homesick often. Although there are some issues with the Canada, I find the people here to be incredibly ignorant — yes, it is the “just good enough” mentality, and customer service is something foreign. No one strives to be better. I have no one to have an intelligent conversation with. The health care system is akin to a 3rd world country with people on waiting lists for 2 years for surgery. Nurses are essentially nurses aides, by American or Canadian standards. There is a “nark on your co-worker” mentality here, that I have not seen elsewhere, but have been told this also exists in Australia. I guess this is what they call TALL POPPY syndrome, and it is very real. In other words, if you are a go-getter — they will cut you down. They actually punish people who are creative or innovative here, and that defines tall poppy syndome — if one is standing too tall, cut it down. What I would have to say I miss most is my profession (nursing) being PROFESSIONAL, and the sense of humor the doctors from other countries had compared to here. But then again, we had different standards of nursing – and the nurses here who have RN’s are equivalent to enrolled nurses elsewhere. Doctors have GOD mentality, so if you question them (as you would in any developed country) — they look at you as if to say “How DARE you question me?” My education is better than most of these doctors, and I was told that most 2nd year NZ med-students don’t have basic understanding of human physiology. I asked one of the nurses here how many years of Anatomy & Physiology she has had, and she said “What’s that?”
It took me 2 years to get the heck out of nursing, and I have a Master’s degree. I had to take the fact that I was Canadian off my resume. No one will give you an interview for even the most menial jobs if they know you are a foreigner. This is so sad….there are tons of really smart Indian doctors here who cannot get registered (they think their own health care force is high & mighty but their education here is the bottom of the barrel compared to other countries) so they are driving cabs. I would rather have these guys as a doctor than the small-minded NZ doctors who DO NOT listen to their patients.
A woman told me that her mother went through breast cancer, & the doctor simply would not listen to her. The doctors do what is best for THEM and not the patients. I know someone else (another immigrant) that went back to school to do engineering work because she watched a doctor kill someone (after she warned him that the patient immediately needed IV meds) When she complained to the DHB, they asked her to retract the letter. So you see, if you are a nurse – you are simply not valued here. I make 20% of what i made in Canada for the same work.
My partner loves it here. We do talk alot about the mentality — and I have very few friends really. NZers like to gossip, and I am not into this…I find it petty. For this reason, I keep to myself.
I honestly don’t think we will be here forever — but I am getting out of nursing. Going back to school to do something else. I believe all the good nurses go to Australia. They cannot go to USA or Canada, because these nurses would never be able to pass the exams to practice.
I figure, since we are here — I want to get SOMETHING out of it, and not feel that being here was a complete waste of time.
Oh yeah – the racism… unbelievable! Never seen anything like it. If you don’t look or talk like they do, they will have a label for you.
And Kiwis never compliment each other — so if you do it, they just look at you suspiciously.
Hi Jonesie, finally someone who ‘gets’ it about nursing in New Zealand.
I have been in NZ for 35 years, came from Australia for a working holiday aged 16 and never left. (Bad family environment back home so nothing to go back to really). My first exposure to the strangeness of NZ’ers was during my first job here. I was shocked and mortified at how my colleagues treated me as an Australian. The jokes were not nice. The men were strange, several accusing me of being “selfish” for choosing to wear knee length skirts rather than mini skirts. Though I did not realize it at the time, I had been greeted by xenophobia and misogyny. Several weeks later, staff began a nasty argument, insulting remarks flying, the subject matter being who were the superior NZ’ers, North or South Islanders. I was utterly floored, it was proof that NZ’s were just plain weird, and I never took any notice of Australian hate jokes again.
In ’77 I joined the RNZN, serving for eight years. Two of us were Australians, 38 were NZ’ers. IQ tests… guess which two recruits scored the highest? Hmmmm That was an issue that came back to wreak havoc in my life years later, following my divorce from my misogynist violent kiwi husband.
In 2000, I chose to study nursing as a mature student. I absolutely loved it and did believe that nursing was my calling. I was also exceptionally good at it, and had a very particular talent at establishing a raport with patients. To this day I remain proud of having changed lives during my time as a student nurse. Somehow patients were able to confide in me their most embarrassing secrets, sufferings they had lived quietly with for years, too embarrassed to share with anyone, yet they did with me. I was able to arrange life changing interventions for them. Perhaps they recognised integrity, a very rare character trait in this country, and almost absent from the medical professions here also. (But you know that).
I had absolutely no problems with the academic portion of the training before my real problems began, and at this point must add that I loved Anatomy & Physiology, always have, from the time I used to make my family ill when I would choose dinner time to discuss the frog, liver fluke & sheep head disections in biology lab at school, and describe the digestive tract from mouth to anus. In fact my mother once said as a joke that I should be a nurse. Who knew???
Something unsettling began to happen though. I found myself a regular contributer during class. I do not think I was a smart-arse, I was simply well read and knowledgable. (I loved research too!) I found often that when a question was put to the class, I seemed to be the only student with the answer. I am not talking about difficult questions here, to me most of the answers were just plain common sense. On several occasions I challenged the tutors and proved myself correct and them incorrect, albiet in a friendly professional manner, as one does! One tutor, the Year Two Head began making comments. She would often say “L you seem to know a lot”, or “L you are very knowledgable”, but the comments were delivered sarcastically. This is when the other students began avoiding me, unless they needed my help with something, because even they sensed the tutors had me in their sights. I became frustrated, deliberately not contributing, not making myself a target, just trying to find that right balance. Have you any idea how difficult it is to dumb down?? It is VERY hard. Something else that frustrated me was… I left school at 14. I did not have higher education prior to these studies, yet every body around me was so GOD DAMNED DUMB! How the hell did these people even feed themselves? I mean the tutors also, or most of them at least, not all. So many of the students were so clueless but were being given a free ride, free re-sits etc., time and time again. I just thought “OK, ignore it, find the right balance, just sail through it”. Then however I hit rocks, and the fight for my life began.
One of my patients had been abused by a nurse. I went in in the morning to find her cowering in her bed, knees drawn up, covers pulled up tight under her chin, looking terrified. She was a very nice American woman in her early 50’s, very frail, a great deal of pain much of the time, wheel chair bound 80% of the time, couldn’t touch her anywhere without feeling the grating. You know the diagnosis. All she wanted was help to go to the toilet at 3:00 in the morning, so she rang the bell. The nurse must have been watching the shopping channel or something equally important to her, and did not take well to the interuption. My patient told me everything that was said (read screamed) and done. My patient was so genuinely terrified she said to me “What if she comes back tonight, what if she puts a pillow over my face! It happens you know, you read about it! If I have to go to the toilet tonight, I’m too scared to ring the bell. I’ll just wet the bed. You don’t mind do you, If the bed is wet tomorrow morning…do you?” She was wide eyed and rambling, and quite scared, so I advocated for her. To be honest I gave the nurse not a second thought, and an incident report was filed.
I had cut my own throat. Every ward i went to received word ahead of my arrival that I was to be got rid of. I was not wanted in the profession. I had committed to greatest sin in nursing, I had betrayed a nurse. My professional responsibility was to turn around and walk away from the patient, protect the abuser, but oh no, I had to protect the patient. My sin was unforgivable. I was set up, fitted up, harrassed where ever I went. They actually broke board policies as they harrassed me. On campus I was being worked over by the tutors, harassed and victimised, deliberately failed on my formatives because they could do it, my summatives gone over with a microscope and failed on something as small as a missing full stop. And they lied. They just lied and lied and lied. Like many people I have viewed the odd American Soap Opera. You know how some of the characters are just so EVIL. I thought people like that could not exist in the real world, that it was just fiction, a fairy tale, but at my School of Nursing I met evil and looked it in the eyes. It’s real.
I was under so much stress my hair was falling out, I had a bald patch on one side. The student association president faked helping me, didn’t want to piss off the faculty. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation student rep led me right up the garden path. I learned that they are not the union they pretend to be at all, that is a joke, the are a club, and I was no longer welcome to join. I fought hard but in the end they broke me. They got me on my last clinical placement, I was fitted up and hung out to dry. Six weeks to go till State Finals, and they broke me. I had been fighting to survive for 18 months. The incident with the nurse abuser was the middle of year two.
It’s been 10 years and it still makes me cry. I still cry sometimes when I muss over what they stole from me. They stole my future, my hope for independence, and left me with a Student Loan debt I will never be able to pay off in my life time. I wonder though if perhaps this was the way it was meant to be, if it was to save me, to prevent me from turning into one of THEM. I saw so much abuse in nursing, horizontal and vertical abuse among the staff, and abuse of patients. I saw a nurse kill a patient; she refused to carry out a task she was asked to do, said it was “yukky”, did not do it, the patient died, she got away with it because the order from the doctor was verbal, through me. He told me to tell my preceptor, which I did. I couldn’t say anything because the order was not in writing so he could deny having given a verbal order, and she could have denied having received the verbal order through me. Death by nurse!
New Zealand nurses are incredibly unhygienic, it’s no wonder there are so many nosocomial infections in this country. They just don’t wash their hands and rarely wear gloves. One example – a nurse handled with her bare hands an expelled urinary catheter (female patient), did not wash her hands, then responded to another patient’s request to peel his orange please, which she did for him, with filthy hands. I could cite examples that would make your skin crawl.
The incompetence and arrogance is mindblowing. I saw one nurse irrigating a wound with cold saline and mentioned warming it to tepid, citing research, and her response was “Oh, I don’t believe that”. Another patient in Cardio Thorasic exhibited a slight Parkinsonian gait, but Parkinson’s Disease was not in his records. When I pointed it out to my preceptor she replied “Ignore it, that’s not what he’s here for”. In that ward all post op’s used a commode chair, but tthe chairs were never cleaned. Some had fecal matter on them, the nurses didn’t care, the patients didn’t know because the chair was behind them. I cleaned all the chairs and the nurses considered me an upstart for doing it. I must have seen one example of blatent incompetence every day. Some disgraceful, some downright dangerous. NZ nurses do not like learning either. Once they graduate they undertake only the further learning they are forced to do. They have no interest in voluntary professional development. It’s just about the money, which happens to be very good. That is the only thing nursing has going for it today. Also, when I studied some openly admitted their primary goal was to marry a doctor. A few, but just a few, complete, graduate, and never persue a nursing career. They are just so disgusted with nursing culture, so offended by it, they don’t want to be part of it. At my local pharmacy one of the assistants was a nurse who left the profession before it killed her soul, and I have met a few others.
The medical professions in New Zealand are a horror story. Most doctors are exactly as you have described. Except mine that is, but he’s Chinese LOL. (True that). It has been a long letter, and maybe no one will ever read it, and I must not forget to state exactly where I studied. It was Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua, north of Wellington. The hospital where the patient abuse indident took place was Hutt Hospital, Medical Ward, but revenge was carried out at various wards at Wellington Hospital. The Whitereia School of Nursing will be no different to any other in New Zealand. I believe the same thing would have happened no matter which school I enrolled with. I also believe I would have recieved the same treatment at every hospital in New Zealand. The entire nursing and medical cullture here is evil and rotten to the core. Well that’s me. Astro out!
PS I could not have moved to another town to do it again, it would have followed me. Somehow where ever I went, it would have found me, and it would have started again, I firmly believe that. Going to Australia to study there was never an option. I have children here, they were teenagers who needed me then so I could not have gone on my own, and I could not have ripped them away from their lives, schools and friends just to persue my dream. Now, I am just too old to start again…..and I am ashamed to say that if I had a do over, I would calm my patient down, and take it no further. A student nurse does not have the luxury of ethics. Ethics can destroy her/his career before it has ever begins. That is also the reason New Zealand RN’s rarely possess any ethical sense, or integrity. By the time they graduate any of it they ever had has been killed, they are immune to good influence. They have become pack animals. That is the nursing culture in this country. The nursing council periodically discusses workplace violence, but they don’t really care. They have no interest really in stopping it. They just have to be seen discussing it, that’s all. Bad nurses here are not pushed out, they are pushed up. The violence will never stop. Why do nurses eat their young? Why not…it just feels so damned good.
Gemma, I moved my family back to South Africa and I have not regretted it for a moment. People are amazed when I tell them that – one person I told in NZ said he couldn’t believe I want to go back to ‘that hellhole’. For me, NZ was the hellhole. SA has a major crime problem and dysfunctional politics, there’s no denying that, but it also has incredible, interesting, resilient people. People actually live their lives, do interesting things and strive for better. To me, NZ was like the land of the living dead. I have never been more depressed in my life than when I was living there. I came alive again when I came home and I suspect many other South Africans living in NZ are faced with the same dilemma. Stay in a place that slowly drains all the joy and life out of you, but where you are relatively safe, or go back home to the crime and poverty? My only advice is: follow your heart. Yes, your children might be safer and more protected in NZ, but at what price? A joyless, depressed parent can not raise happy, balanced children
I have often felt “buried alive” here. Thank you for summarizing so well how this place makes ME feel too! Drained totally and extremely depressed. You are lucky to have been able to move your children back at least.
Tanya could not have put it any better,i lived there for 7 years,worked in goverment and many sectors,what a hell hole,i came for my mothers funeral and my visa expired ,they want me to do whole new residency permit,,i appealed to the higest level no joy,
I totally agree with all the things people have said.
I moved my family to NZ last June, we moved back to Alnwick in UK in May this year and moving back was the best thing we’ve ever done. We now know that moving back was the right thing to do!I hated NZ for all the reasons people have already said, but when I tell people in UK those reasons they can’t beleive it! Guess you only know these things by having spent time in NZ!
That’s probably because the people you tell such things to, are of the belief that others can’t be trusted or think they are the exception to the way many foreigners are treated when they try to build a life there.
You can’t stop them from making bad decisions, but if you’ve already warned them and they choose not to listen… they can discover the truth for themselves.
This should actually make things clearer… it’s from 2005, but still largely relevant (the people in charge of hiring who maintain the status quo are well-rewarded, probably don’t have the qualifications to go elsewhere, and get by without too much effort):
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/julie-middleton/news/article.cfm?a_id=100&objectid=10118242
“Recruiters discriminate heavily against Chinese and Indian job seekers, according to a new study which probed the behaviour of 350 New Zealand managers and professionals.”
…
“Maori raters imposed ethnic penalties as did Pakeha. However, Asian raters judged Asian and Pakeha applicants similarly. Dr Wilson attributes this to many Asians coming from multi-cultural backgrounds where they have mixed in business circles and socially.
The students were defensive when results were revealed, says Dr Wilson. “They had all kinds of reasons. There would be language difficulties – even though the applicants were fluent in English, and the resume was perfect.
“They’d say that the applicants wouldn’t understand employment law here – well, who does? They’d say that they wouldn’t fit into the culture – that covers all kinds of ills. There’s no factual basis for it. They even preferred a United Kingdom or Canadian immigrant over even New Zealand-born Chinese.”
Dr Wilson says many employers “won’t face up to the fact” that they are prejudiced. “It’s about merit and about being colour-blind when hiring.”
Dr Mouly illustrates: “I had provided a reference for a former student to a public sector organisation,” she recalls. “I got a call from the chair of the search committee after they had interviewed her, yelling at me because I hadn’t told them she was black. Her name was very British and they were shocked when she walked in and didn’t look the way that they expected.
“They yelled at me for wasting their time, even though the candidate was much better qualified than the person that they ended up hiring.” Her former student is now happily working elsewhere.”