Half of nursing graduates miss out on Te Whatu Ora job offer

A nurse.
Photograph: 123RF

Graduates who missed out on nursing jobs are now considering going abroad, even if it’s not what they want, a union member says.

She is part of a group representing nursing students who say health authority Te Whatu Ora has failed in its most basic duty to plan for the future nursing workforce.

It comes after Te Whatu Ora offered jobs to just 844 of 1,619 graduate nurses on Wednesday; this accounts for only 50 percent of the group.

Student nurse and New Zealand Nurses Organization student unit co-chair Bianca Anderson said: Morning Report It was difficult to understand.

“It takes three years of hard work and rigorous clinical placements, and at the end there is no work, so everyone is miserable and wondering what will happen next.”

He said that there was a shortage of staff in some areas that student nurses observed during their placements.

“Nurses are definitely needed and I have had patients tell me how important we are, how much they value us.

“I think it’s just due to government cost-cutting.”

Anderson said that those who fail to find work are now considering going abroad, even though most of them do not want to.

They chose nursing so they could serve their local communities, and this was particularly difficult for Māori and Pacifica nurses.

“Going abroad is a big life change for some people, especially students with families. It doesn’t look good because otherwise you won’t be able to find a job as a nurse and you’ll be stuck.”

Nurses work full time and have to work part-time jobs to support themselves, Anderson said.

There was now too much uncertainty for students like him who were considering finding a job within a year, and he had heard that some were considering dropping out of school.

His message to Te Whatu Ora was to consider both graduates and patients.

“We work hard to provide for our communities; if we don’t end up finding a job, that would be extremely devastating and would deter people from going into nursing, which is a very important part of the healthcare system.”

Aged care jobs among the options – national chief nurse

New Zealand Health National Chief Nurse Nadine Gray said “indigenous nurses” were a vital part of the healthcare system.

He said other healthcare providers will have the opportunity to offer jobs to the 770 people “remaining in the talent pool” starting today Morning Report.

Incentives of up to $20,000 were being offered to primary care, community and aged care services to recruit more graduate nurses.

Gray said many nurses preferred to work in hospital rather than aged care, but Health NZ wanted them to consider working throughout the healthcare system.

Gray said yesterday that those who did not receive a job offer would not necessarily go to Australia because there are no longer many vacancies in Australian cities due to the recent influx of nurses from around the world.

Asked if there had been a failure in planning, he said it had been an “extraordinary year” with thousands of foreign nurses coming to Aotearoa in the wake of the pandemic.

Immigration environments had changed to allow for this, but there was also constant change in the healthcare system and graduate nurses were sure to find employment.

“We support nurses and are determined to get them into jobs across the healthcare system, not just in hospitals and specialist services, in the coming months.”

Nearly 3,000 nurses were hired last year, meaning Health NZ now employs 35,000 people.

“We have reached the lowest turnover we have had in a long time.”

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