Wanted: 2000-plus more nurses

A national recruiting drive to find at least 2000 nurses gets under way this week.

The Campaign for the Future of Nursing aims to encourage New Zealanders to choose nursing as a career.

The initiative comes at a critical time, with an estimated shortage of 2000 nurses expected to increase in the next couple of years because of the ageing workforce.

It has been developed in collaboration with key members of the nursing community and the Health Ministry.

At the centre of the initiative is a website, www.careersinnursing.co.nz (see link below), which gives career information, links to further information sites around the country and shares the inspirational stories of nurses.

A range of activities, including a school outreach programme and poster advertising, will try to alert people to the campaign and drive them to the website.

"Nursing today offers you the opportunity to be at the cutting-edge of technology and healthcare while making a real difference to people's lives," said Kathy Holloway, of the National Association of Nurse Education in the Tertiary Sector.

"You can develop your career while travelling the world and engage in on-going education in the areas of clinical practice that excite and motivate you."

What was exciting about the campaign was the way the nursing community and the ministry had come together in the recruiting drive, she said.

Mark Jones, the ministry's chief nursing adviser, said nursing was an essential element of the healthcare system.

"This initiative aims to demonstrate the versatility and diversity of this highly skilled profession. We want to excite potential recruits about the challenges and rewards this career offers. We also hope that the initiative will ensure current nurses receive the professional recognition they rightly deserve."

The campaign is an initiative of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies.

According to New Zealand Workforce Statistics, there were 38,484 active nurses registered in New Zealand in 2004.

Auckland has the lowest number of active registered nurses per inhabitants (771 nurses per 100,000 population), while the West Coast has the highest number (1013 per 100,000). The average for New Zealand is 853 active registered nurses per 100,000 population.

There are 2883 Maori nurses in the workforce (7.5 per cent), which means that the number of Maori nurses has more than doubled since 1994.

The majority of the nurse workforce consists of New Zealanders with a European background (68.3 per cent), with the second largest group being immigrant nurses of European descent (9.7 per cent).

- NZPA