Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation
A new proposal that will require Te Whatu Ora to offer all eligible graduate nurses jobs in the public health system will help keep them in nursing and in Aotearoa New Zealand, NZNO says.
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO national student vice-chair Dawn Blyth says the election policy from Labour announced today would be welcomed by nursing students.
“Traditionally up to 90% of nursing graduates have been employed into hospitals where they receive invaluable on-the-job mentoring and skill development.
“However, despite recent promises from the Coalition Government to hire 1800 graduates this financial year, less than half of graduates over the past two years have received job offers.
“It is soul-destroying for nursing graduates to study for three years and hope for a job and then not get one. A survey of nursing students last year found more than 61% were considering moving overseas for work if they couldn’t get a position in New Zealand,” Dawn Blyth says.
Outgoing NZNO Te Rūnanga Tauira (student) chair Poihaere Whare says hiring all eligible graduates would help create a sustainable pipeline of Aotearoa New Zealand-trained nurses.
“A focus on getting nurse graduates into primary care will help whānau get the care they need in their own communities.
“However, only around 250 of the 400 graduate places were filled by primary care employers last financial year because they are so stretched, they don’t have the capacity to mentor new nurses.
“And with current pay rates for primary care nurses at levels around 11% lower than their hospital counterparts, nurses are leaving family doctor clinics for better pay. Nurses working for Māori and Iwi providers earn even less.
“If Labour is serious about building the nursing workforce and fixing the health system, it must fund primary care sufficiently so all nurses working in the sector can receive pay parity with Te Whatu Ora nurses,” Poihaere Whare says.