Welcome to Nursing Express
We provide information of use to Australian and New Zealand Nurses coming to work in the UK.
Statistics about Overseas Nurses in the UK from the NMC
The Nursing & Midwifery Council records show dramatic changes in the numbers of overseas Nurses being accepted onto the register since 2002. One of the main reasons for this was the removal of Band 5 and Band 6 Nurses from the "Shortage Occupation List" in August 2006.
The result is that the number of Australian and New Zealand Nurses registering dropped from a high of about 1,674 in 2003/4 to just 373 for 2006/7. The figures dropped a little further in 2007/8 with just 324 coming to the UK from Australia and New Zealand
The total Number of non-European Nurses administered to the register also dropped from 13,608 for 2002/3 to 4,830 for 2006/7. In 2007/8 this figure dropped more than 50% to just 2,309.
Overseas Nursing Opportunities
There are still opportunities in the UK and some Nursing Agencies provide advice and assistance specifically for Australian and New Zealand Nurses. The opportunities are now more normally available for those nurses who have specialist skills and qualifications which make the posts difficult to fill from Nurses in the UK or Europe.
As a consequence the choices available are primarily limited to working in the NHS, Private Hospitals or with Nursing Agencies.
One agency worth contacting is Strand Nurses Bureau
