There is a shortage of nurses in New Zealand. Photo / File
A Tauranga registered nurse is moving to Australia where she says she’ll get “triple” her New Zealand pay, free accommodation, travel benefits and an “easier lifestyle”.
Eden Arkwright, 28, is starting a new job in Tasmania in March.
She said she would never be able to afford a home in New Zealand and that was something she wanted to do.
Arkwright’s move comes amid concerns about a shortage of nurses in New Zealand and as thousands of people migrate to Australia each year.
She has been working at a private doctors practice in Arataki, but recently decided to move to Australia despite it being “an amazing place to work”.
“I decided to just not necessarily chase the money, but definitely just look for an easier lifestyle.”
Arkwright would be working for a travel nursing agency in Australia, where she will be taking on six- to 12-week contracts anywhere in the country.
Her first contract is in Tasmania at the Royal Hobart Hospital, starting in March.
“They fly you in, they pay for your flights, they pay for your accommodation and then they pay you triple what they pay you in New Zealand.”
Arkwright declined to say what she was paid in New Zealand versus what she would be earning in Australia for privacy reasons, however, according to the Government’s careers website, NZ graduate registered nurses working for district health boards usually earned $60,000 a year.
The average annual base salary of a travel nurse in Australia is $155,662, according to the Australian job search website Indeed.
“If I work for 12 weeks in a row they’ll also fly me back home for a little break as well,” Arkwright said.
She would be living and working with four friends - all of whom formerly worked at Waikato Hospital and had moved to Tasmania.
Arkwright said she had no plans to return to New Zealand and it had always been her dream to work in the outback and make a difference to those living in low socioeconomic areas.
Prior to working at a private doctors practice in Arataki, Arkwright worked at Tauranga Hospital in the Child and Youth Outpatient department. She started that job in August 2020 and quit a year later.
She said she had concerns about the ratio of patients to nurses as well as the demanding work schedule.
“We had probably 100 to 200 patients come through a day and there was just me and one other nurse.”
Arkwright said her mental health became “quite bad” after struggling with the workload, what she considered low pay, missed breaks, overtime and being rostered on more than she was contracted for.
In her view, “it wasn’t an overly supportive environment”.
In response to Arkwright’s comments, Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty chief nursing officer Rosalind Jackson said healthcare was an “extremely busy and demanding profession”, but the safety of patients and staff was the top priority.
Jackson said the number of patients going through the Child and Youth Outpatient department per day averaged around 50 and it was not only nurses who saw patients, with around six healthcare professionals typically attending to people.
Staff were encouraged to take breaks wherever possible, and employment contracts allowed for additional payments for missed breaks.
Staff were sometimes asked to work additional hours or shifts but this was always by agreement.
Arkwright’s comments alluding to a lack of support did not align with Jackson’s understanding of the situation, and the management team offered formal and informal staff support when needed.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels said every sector of the health system was suffering from staff shortages and making people “really consider” their options.
“If we had equitable wages and conditions with Australia and opportunities, nurses could have a real choice about staying in New Zealand.”
In November, NZME reported fewer overseas nurses were applying to work in New Zealand and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation said earlier this year the nursing sector was more than 4000 nurses short.
According to Government statistics, in the financial year ending June 2022 there were 22,600 migrant departures from New Zealand to Australia.
Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ interim workforce lead Ailsa Claire and Te Aka Whai Ora interim workforce commissioning lead Anna-Marie Ruhe - Workforce Taskforce co-chairs - said there was a global shortage of health workers and New Zealand was recruiting in a “very competitive market” but had the ability to fast-track residence for nurses.
New Zealand was addressing “significant workforce pressures” in the health system, focusing on international recruitment and growing the domestic workforce.
An international recruitment centre was set up in October providing immigration support to health workers moving to New Zealand and an international recruitment campaign started in November in six countries.
The Internationally Qualified Nurses Competency Assessment Programme Fund initiative has had more than 500 eligible expressions of interest for funding to help reduce costs for nurses becoming registered to work in New Zealand.
By September, 225 New Zealand nurses had been approved for funding to help them complete any necessary courses to return to the workforce.
A Nursing Working Group was focusing on initiatives to grow the workforce, including developing a nationally consistent process for career progression, recognition of prior learning, an early career framework and strengthening the approach to clinical placements.
Statistics provided by the Nursing Council of New Zealand showed 92 per cent of the 1169 requests it received for verification of New Zealand-qualified nurses last year were from Australia.
The requests were made when a nurse applied for registration to an overseas regulator, but the council said this was not necessarily an indication that a nurse has moved or will move to practise in another country.
They may also be issued for nurses who had already moved or, in some cases, for nurses who did not currently hold New Zealand annual practising certificates.
Rain started falling at the top of the country before dawn.