"Essentially all it does is ask that you just work in the field for two years so it is recency we just ask that you stay as a nurse and one of the reasons for that is we did have raised with us by some DHBs the concern of whether of not we were retaining everyone that was coming in as a nurse."Īrdern was unable to provide the number of nurses that had returned to or arrived in the country as a result of the residency scheme, which was announced a month ago. However, some nurses were upset the residence status had not been offered automatically upon arrival, Ardern said the inclusion of the two-year requirement was due to concerns around staff retention at some DHBs. Returning nurses are also being offered a one-off payment of $5000 to cover re-registration and other costs. To attract overseas nurses to the country, the government has given those in the profession the opportunity to gain residence after working in the field for two years. "I think it'd be fair to say we've been aware of the global shortage of nursing staff so we've been running our own internal campaigns to try and attract our previous qualified nurses to come back," she said. The New South Wales government has unveiled a $4.5 billion package to recruit more than 10,000 staff - with New Zealanders sure to be in its sights.Īrdern told RNZ's Morning Report programme today the Government was aware of the global shortage of nurses and would be continuing campaigns to attract people to the industry from within the country and overseas.
Nearly one-in-three nursing students are dropping out before qualifying, due to financial pressure, family responsibilities and other factors made worse by Covid-19.Īt the same time, health boards and rest homes are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to attract nurses from overseas to fill an estimated 4000 vacancies.īut there are forces working the other way.