Support falls short for nursing graduates

In light of revelations the Government is offering sweeteners to hospitals take on graduate doctors Tony Ryall’s repeated assurances that he is doing everything possible to support nurse graduates into jobs will be galling to the hundreds struggling to find work, Labour’s Health spokesperson Annette King says.

“Mr Ryall can sugar coat the problem all he likes. The reality is more than a third of our nursing students don’t have a job after graduating.

“Until Mr Ryall stepped in to incentivise DHBs some 24 new doctors might have been out of work as well.

“It is ironic that Health Workforce NZ named 2013 the Year of the Nurse, while at the same time there has been little progress on solving the nursing crisis.

“With an ageing population we need to do all we can to encourage our graduate nurses to stay in New Zealand.

“That means Mr Ryall working with DHBs and other health sector employers to match new graduates with jobs.

“If he can do it for doctors, then he should have no problem doing the same for our nurses.”

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