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Nurse graduate crisis continues in New Zealand by Karen Keast Around a third of New Zealand’s graduate nurses are still struggling to find employment.
around the country attending interviews for very few positions.”
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has attacked the government for failing to address the graduate nursing crisis while accusing it of incentivising district health boards (DHBs) to employ 24 more doctors than they required.
Job turnover and vacancy rates in New Zealand are at low levels with nurses remaining in their roles due to the economic climate.
“Incentivising DHBs to take new graduate doctors is not a sustainable way forward for the health system in New Zealand,” NZNO associate professional services manager Hilary Graham-Smith said.
The job woes come as a recent Nursing Council of New Zealand report revealed New Zealand is expected to experience a nursing shortage of around 15,000 nurses within 22 years.
“We are especially concerned that the problem of graduate support and positions for new nurses has not been resolved either. “Fewer than half of new graduate nurses have got a job, which means that hundreds of graduating nurses have been forced to travel Page 22 | www.ncah.com.au
More than 1230 nurses graduated last year - 57 per cent had a job in December 2012, which increased to 74 per cent in February.
The report revealed more than half of the current nursing workforce is forecast to retire in 20 years – at the same time as a predicted increase in demand for health care due to the nation’s ageing population and lifestyle disease. For the full article visit NCAH.com.au