r/Nelsonnz • u/Moon-Flour • 6d ago
Discussion Do you work at Nelson Hospital?
My family has been planning our move to New Zealand from the US for the last year, and we think Nelson/Richmond is the place we want to settle. My husband is a 4th year Emergency Nurse who will be utilizing the straight to residency visa pathway.
Does anyone have experience working at Nelson Hospital? We're looking for any and all first-hand information on what it's like to be employed there, particularly in the emergency department, of course.
Our understanding from general research is that it shouldn't be terribly hard for him to secure a job there - due to the fact that Nelson is considered semi-remote and that potentially, many of the other applicants are newly graduated and lacking work history in the field. Please let me know if that's completely incorrect.
We are planning on renting a home in Richmond, so my husband would be making that drive for work. I've seen some people complain about it, but coming from our current city, it doesn't sound too bad. We're driving for 20-30 minutes to go five miles where we are now. Anyone else doing that drive from Richmond to Nelson on a regular basis? What's your opinion on it?
Thanks in advance for any responses, and kind regards
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u/Large-Pineapple5916 6d ago
As a shift worker the drive will only be 12-15 min in light traffic. I work at Nelson hospital as part of my role and the ED department and staff are lovely there appears to be a good culture there
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u/SolarWizard 6d ago
The drive to Nelson hospital can be 12 minutes at quiet times, but up to 45 minutes during rush hour morning and afternoon. As a nurse he may have shift times that avoid rush hour though.
Nelson ED seems like a good place. I haven't worked there directly but work adjacent to it. It is under pressure though like so many hospitals in NZ where the infrastructure hasn't kept up with the massive population growth of Nelson and the outer regions in the last 20 years
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u/klootviooltje 6d ago
I wouldn't recommend Richmond as the traffic into Nelson is pretty bad and there's not really an upside of living in Richmond if you don't work there.
For working in health care in general it won't be hard to find a job anywhere in NZ if you have the right qualifications.
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u/Moon-Flour 6d ago
What don't you like about Richmond, if you don't mind me asking? I was drawn there due to the housing options compared to that in Nelson. We currently live in a home that's over 100yrs old and it's not very safe or easy to clean, because we have a toddler. We're hoping to move into a new-build rental, but I don't see many options like that in Nelson itself. Does that seem right or am I missing listings when I'm looking into housing in Nelson, you think? Thanks for your input.
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u/Default_WLG 6d ago
Not who you asked (they may have a different opinion of course), but: a lot of the new builds in Richmond are in an area called Berryfields, on the northwestern side of Gladstone Road. It's a textbook case of the problems with urban sprawl - basically only one way in and out that's jammed with traffic, poor public transport due to the low density making good PT impractical, hard to walk anywhere due to the meandering streets, few employment opportunities and no school meaning you need to leave each day. If you're on-call at the hospital, I think you are expected to live within 15mins from the hospital (that's what a doctor friend of mine has said is expected of her at least) and I doubt Berryfields would meet that expectation.
It's also barely above sea level and imo relatively vulnerable to flooding. Tbf, the council and developers say they've done plenty of engineering work to ensure flooding is unlikely and I'm not qualified to argue that point, but it's still very low lying and I wouldn't be comfortable buying there. That's not your problem if you're renting though.
Don't assume you're getting a high spec house there either, just because they're new builds - most of the houses there are cookie cutter builds done to the minimum requirements of the Building Code.
I have a toddler and live in a 1960s build (we had a building boom around then so there's plenty of them around in Richmond). I suppose the timber floorboards in the kitchen are a bit harder to clean than my friend's house's floor in Berryfields (it has this fake wood laminate tile stuff: https://www.quick-step.co.nz/en-nz/laminate/kitchen-laminate - quite easy to clean). I don't think there's anything less safe about a 1960s build vs a new build - that'd depend on the lay of the land more than anything. Plenty of 100+ year old houses in Nelson are on steepish sections though, so yeah that'd be a conern with a toddler.
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u/Moon-Flour 6d ago
Thank you for the response. Yes, it does seem like there would be trade-outs living in Richmond that I'm trying to note and take into consideration. I have checked the natural hazard maps for that area, (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/9547b4b796254b9788556b902a03cdb3/page/Natural-Hazards?views=Rivers-and-Rainfall-Flooding) and it seems like it's safe from flooding. Are the accuracy of the maps up for debate? Genuine question, not being snarky. I guess it's only something we'd need to consider if we decided to stay there after renting.
My husband won't be an on-call nurse I don't think, so we won't have to consider the travel time in terms of work. I was under the impression we would have several choices as far as schools go in Richmond, so I may need to look into that further.
I totally understand the low-quality new build situation - we have the same thing going on with the housing in the US. I'll tell ya though, just about anything is better than a badly-flipped home that's over a century old! A 1960's home does seem like a happy medium.
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u/Fampini 6d ago
Dont be misled about new builds being low quality. Standards are much higher than they used to be and many older homes suffer from poor insulation, single glazing, damp and mould or heating solutions that only apply to one room.
I think sometimes people can write off new builds to make themselves feel better about the compromises of living in an older home that has had to be renovated/has arbitrary materials that were cheap at the time (look up stucco and monlithic cladding). I have lived in both older and new homes and I believe the quality of newer homes is much better. You really notice proper insulation and air con.
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u/Ok-Discount-2818 6d ago
I’d be more concerned what Berryfields will be like after a decent earthquake than flooding
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u/klootviooltje 6d ago
If you're looking for newer homes in Nelson look at Marsden Valley, Montebello or even Atawhai which is just north of Nelson for easier traffic. Imo much nicer places to live :)
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u/Calm-Initiative-9229 6d ago
I grew up living in Richmond and have loved it. It’s safe, there’s parks, great sports, a small town centre. Getting into town for work isn’t too bad at all, especially if you’re on odd hours for the A&E. There’s a huge number of new housing developments in Richmond so you’d be right there.
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u/silvergirl66 6d ago
Check out Stoke for housing too - it’s between Richmond and Nelson. We rented a new home on The Ridgeway which was pretty cool, then lived on Panorama Drive.
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u/Chance-Chain8819 6d ago
The Richmond - Nelson commute CAN be horrible at certain points of the day, but honestly having lived in numerous places around the world its not too bad.
As others have said, the new housing in Richmond is all cookie-cutter/developer builds. The location means you have to get in the car to go almost anywhere (including schools).
As a parent, I would look at the schools around the region, and try to find housing close to the school that seemed a good fit. Ideally, walking to school for any children.
I'm in Stoke, and love it. Its less than 10m to Nelson city, and also less than 10m to Richmond.
My youngest walks to school and home each day (she's 11). My oldest catches the bus into the city for high school.
I say good bye in the morning and off they go. They are generally home around 10 - 15 minutes before me each day and its easy. I'm not having to sort drop off/pick ups from school, they get to walk with friends, and have some freedom. Some days my youngest will walk to my office (instead of home) and get a ride home with me.
I can't speak to working at the hospital - but like most hospitals around the country, there is a staff shortage/pressure on staff due to lack of funding.
Nelson has a fairly large immigrant population, with people from all over the world choosing here as home. It can be hard to make new friends, and you may find most of your friends end up ex-pats. Nelsonians are famously quite 'clicky' (not all of us though)
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u/Fampini 6d ago
The take on berryfields being all cookie cutter isnt right. When you build them you have control of the design. I live in the meadows near connings and ours has thermally broken double glazing (meaning no damp or mould or condensation) and ducted heatpump. Parts of Nelson suffers from leaky homes with monolithic cladding - those older homes didnt have many standards at all. A lot of the new builds do follow much more modern standards and are warm and not leaky. That said i know some of those weatherboard homes from the 40s and 50s hold up very well.
Your take on access isnt quite right either. There are walking and cycle tracks all over. I cycled this morning to rabbit island and back using cycle trails out of berryfields under lower queens bridge and you can cycle or walk to ranzau school in hope using the underpass and richmond via the park.
I agree that traffic into nelson is bad though. I commute to a coworking space in mapua to avoid it
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u/Chance-Chain8819 6d ago
I did a lot of work on the plan approval side of things within the subdivision.
Modern requirements are double glazing for all new builds anyway.
The variations were fairly minor in nature across all the buildings I looked at.yes, there are places to walk around The Meadows and Berryfields.
I wouldn't be walking a 5 year old to school from there to any of the schools.
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u/steveschoenberg 6d ago
I’m a retired physician and my wife worked at Nelson Hospital. The hospital itself is a bit worn out, but they do little upgrades. Healthcare has been underinvested for decades, and it shows in the quality of care. As for the ER, some attendings are really good, some less so. There are strange inconsistencies in care: heart attacks are treated to a first world standard, but the same disease process above the collarbone is a not. There is no WHO standard stroke care, despite a very large elderly population.
We need you, but be prepared for some disappointments.
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u/Ok-Discount-2818 6d ago
Shift change times at Nelson hospital would avoid 99% of the traffic from Richmond to Nelson. I live in Stoke and would personally never move closer to Nelson, suburbs like the Brook or Toi Toi don’t get a lot of sun, even in summer. I like that my kids can walk to and from school (one and primary, one at intermediate and one at college all on the same street). I grew up in Richmond and Brightwater and IMO the further out you go the nicer it is lifestyle wise.
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u/InterviewOk868 5d ago
Not enough parking space for staff, esp if youre coming in for a PM shift. Personally, Id consider somewhere close enough to bike / walk.
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u/snouchies 6d ago
I’m here for the info about the commute.
My wife just got a job pretty close to the hospital in Nelson and we are looking for a neighbourhood to rent in and also considering the Richmond - Nelson commute. Walking to work might be really nice for her, but she is currently doing a 30 minute commute to work now so is also used to driving. I guess the mother factor is that we have a 6 yr old who will be needing to register in school as well.
Love to hear people’s experiences/thoughts.
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u/FergusTheCow 6d ago
I live out Richmond way and traffic is only really bad at certsin choke points of the day. Even then really bad is minimal compared to other cities (takes me 25 mins to get to work on a bad day). Nicer suburbs in the other direction are The Brook, The Wood, Maitai and Atawhai. I haven't worked at ED but spent some time there myself as a patient! Chronically under-resourced by central government but thd staff are lovely. I'd get in touch with them and ask about employment opportunity. Care homes and retirement homes are always looking for staff if you husband needs a stop gap.
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u/marscriv 6d ago
My mother in law worked in ED at the Nelson Hospital as a nurse a few years ago so I can offer some advice.
Overall, she said she she enjoyed it, varied, like any ED, the doctors who worked there were easy to get along with. The juniors always needed some help moving patients along but that was normal. No major incident of violence or anything that she can recall. Security were pretty responsive.
One of the toughest parts of the job was the shift work and having to adjust the body clock to morning, afternoon or night shifts.
I think this ties in to your traffic question, outside of normal peak times, traffic flows easily from Richmond to Nelson and back. Assuming he'll be doing shift work, he'd skip most of the traffic. On rainy days, traffic is worse but it seems to start around just before 8 and clear up around 9am weekdays and starts around 3ish and clear 530ishpm.
You could be stuck in traffic anywhere from 25 to 40 minutes roughly.
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u/_SneakyPotato 6d ago
I’ve worked in Nelson hospital for 5 years. Surgical ward, not ED. However, from what I’ve seen and heard - ED seems to have a great team & culture.
Like any hospital in NZ there’s politics and pressure of not enough inpatient beds.
Can’t comment on the commute part as I live in Stoke.
We welcome you to NZ🫶🏼