Nurses needed to curb national shortage

A nursing shortage will become critical unless nurses are trained in greater numbers by 2017 according to the annual report released by Crown entity Health Workforce NZ recently.

The report state that although the nursing workforce has grown by more than 5400 in the last five years, numbers are still in bad shape and this would need to significantly increase by 2017 to account for the large numbers retiring from workforce.

Wintec’s undergraduate manager for nursing, Glennis Birks, says that with the looming nursing shortage, now’s the ideal time to look into a career in the nursing.

“Wintec-trained nurses have an excellent reputation in the Waikato and across New Zealand,” she says.

“The reality is that our nursing graduates already have a high rate of employment once they finish. Eighty-four per cent are in relevant jobs within six months of graduating. With the demand for nurses increasing, this will rise even further over the coming years.”

As well as job security, Glennis says nursing is a career filled with limitless personal and professional rewards.

“We focus on integrated care where teams of health professionals work together to provide the best treatment possible.

“Our students have intensive blocks of hands-on, clinical practice in a range of different environments to ensure they are work-ready and meet the needs of today’s workforce.”

Waikato District Health Board’s clinical nurse director Cheryl Atherfold said the DHB had strategies in place to prepare for the impact and challenges of the ageing workforce.

“This includes working with undergraduate programmes to provide an increased number of student placements in clinical areas, new models of student placement that maximise the learning experience, and employment of newly qualified nurses into our Nurse Entry to Practice programme,” she says.

Applications are now open for Wintec’s nursing programmes which begin in February 2015. Click here to view the full range of programmes.