Half of nursing graduates are missing out on a job offer from Te Whatu Ora

Graduates who missed out on nursing jobs are now considering going abroad even if they don’t want to, a union member says.

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

It comes after Te Whatu Ora on Wednesday offered just 844 of its 1,619 graduate nurse jobs, which is just 50 per cent of the cohort.

Student nurse and NZ Nurses Organization student unit co-chair Bianca Anderson told the story Morning report it was difficult to understand.

“It’s three years of hard work and tough clinical placements and then no job at the end of it, so everyone is devastated and wondering what comes next.”

She said there was understaffing in some areas, which student nurses had noticed during their placements.

“There is definitely a need for nurses and I have had patients tell me how essential we are and how much they appreciate us.

“I think this is only due to government cuts.”

Anderson said those who had been unable to secure jobs were now considering going abroad, even though many did not want to.

They chose nursing so they could serve their local community, and it was especially tough for the Māori and Pasifika nurses.

“Going abroad is a big life change for some people, especially students who have families. It doesn’t look great because otherwise you can’t get a job as a nurse and you’re stuck.”

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

For students like her who were thinking about finding a job in a year, there was now a lot of uncertainty and she had heard that some were considering quitting.

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

“Working hard to take care of our communities. Ultimately, if we don’t get a job, it’s completely devastating and it puts people off going into nursing, which is a very vital part of the healthcare system.”

Jobs in elderly care are possible – national head nurse

National Chief Nurse for Public Health NZ Nadine Gray said “homegrown nurses” were an essential part of the healthcare system.

Other healthcare providers would have the option from today to offer jobs to the remaining 770 “still in the talent pool”, she said. Morning report.

Incentives of up to $20,000 were offered to primary, community and aged care providers to hire more graduate nurses.

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

Those who were not offered jobs yesterday would not necessarily go to Australia as there were no longer many vacancies in the cities due to a flood of nurses arriving from around the world in recent times, Gray said.

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

Immigration settings had changed to accommodate this, but there was also constant turnover in the health care system and she was confident that the nursing graduates would find work.

“We support nurses, that is what we are committed to doing in the coming months to get them into jobs, not just in hospitals and specialist services, but across the healthcare system.”

About 3000 nurses were hired last year, meaning Health NZ now employs 35,000 workers.

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

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