Recently graduated enrolled nurses are struggling to find jobs, after spending thousands of dollars on training that they hoped would open up more career opportunities in healthcare.
A diploma in enrolled nursing takes 18 months – half the time of a bachelor degree – but covers more scope than a healthcare assistant course.
An enrolled nurse can take care of patients, record vital information, provide medication, and work across a variety of health settings, including hospitals, general practices (GPs) and rest homes.
Nearly 200 nurses graduated last year, but only 68 have found jobs. Photo / 123rf
Health New Zealand (HNZ) figures showed that 196 students graduated last year, about a third have found jobs (68), and just roughly one in five (44) have been hired by HNZ.
There were 778 students doing an enrolled nursing programme in institutes under Te Pūkenga in 2024.
‘I’ve have emailed every single GP clinic in Rotorua'
Rotorua woman Kelly Chandler was a healthcare assistant (HCA) in a rest home, before she started the diploma in enrolled nursing at an institute in Tauranga – a relatively cheaper option than doing a bachelors in nursing, she said.
Chandler said many of her classmates, like her, were mature students who had worked as HCAs.
She finished up in November last year and had done placements in acute care, mental health, aged care, and community and rehabilitation.
Chandler said there had been few jobs available and she had the impression that many employers did not understand what enrolled nurses can do.
“I’ve have emailed every single GP clinic in Rotorua, and only one’s come back with a ‘maybe’ and I’ve never heard back from them, and most of the emails... a couple I did get back is [sic] sorry we have a HCA system, it’s awesome for the HCAs, but we’re not HCAs,” she said.
Chandler said she had also been told that Rotorua Hospital and Taupō Hospital did not have enrolled nursing vacancies at all.
She said it was likely she may need to return to her old job.
“Got to do something, I’ve got student loans to pay back, you know we’ve got to live, and I just feel like that we just going to have to go back to being our HCA roles, not being paid enough,” she said.
Chandler said many of her classmates were in similar situations.
“They are all petrified, because they’ve had to give up their other jobs to do the training in the first place ... some of them have got nothing, they’ve had to go back job searching, and others have only got two days a week, and these are grown women, these are mums, that’s the sad part about it.”
‘I’ve started looking at Australia'
Fifty-eight-year-old Tauranga woman Micheline Lagarto – who also used to be a healthcare assistant – said she took up the course as she felt she was capable of doing more.
Lagarto has also struggled to find a job since finishing the course late last year.
She said this was not the outcome she expected after making sacrifices to study – including cutting down her work hours, and paying about $12,000 for the course.
“It’s very sad, very sad and frustrating, we were taught to complete our course, and we passed our state finals, our graduation is March, and still there’s nothing going on for us, that I’ve started looking at Australia.
“My aim is just to go out there, to be able to work and help people, it doesn’t really matter - community, clinic or hospital.”
Lagarto said she hoped to find a role in aged care or in palliative care.
She said she had applied for many positions, but had often been told by employers they were looking for registered nurses.
Lagarto said she felt that many employers in the Bay of Plenty were confused about the scope of work for enrolled nurses.
As of January 20, the scope of practice for enrolled nurses has expanded – meaning that enrolled nurses are no longer required to work under the direction of registered nurses.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate and enrolled nurse Michelle Prattley said she hoped this change will open up new opportunities for enrolled nurses in emergency departments, rural primary health, private hospitals and prisons.
Prattley, who did not have any issue finding work when she graduated in 2015, said it’s “heartbreaking” to see the new graduates struggle to find employment in the current environment.
She said enrolled nurses played an important part – particularly when the workforce was stretched – and she was worried about the future.
“They’re a vital part of the healthcare system, the healthcare team, we need more nurses, the nurses that we got are burning out, and also enrolled nursing is an ageing population.
“So we’ve got a lot of enrolled nurses due to retire or are retiring now, and our numbers are going to drop dramatically when that cohort of nurses that are retiring go, and we need them replaced, they’re a valuable member of the healthcare team,” she said.
Prattley said HNZ needed to take action to keep these professionals in the country.
“Retain these people and to keep the diploma of enrolled nursing going, we need a commitment from Te Whatu Ora to employ enrolled nurses,” she said.
A HNZ spokesperson said in a statement that they recognised the concerns of the graduates, and were committed to supporting them into roles as they became available.
“National progress in nursing recruitment over the past year has exceeded expectations, with more nurses now employed by Health NZ hospitals than ever before.
“This success has significantly changed the nursing workforce landscape and resulted in far fewer vacancies,” the statement said.
HNZ said it employed 750 enrolled nurses, and had 36.9 FTE vacancies for enrolled nurses as of September 2024.
A search on HNZ’s jobs website on January 22 showed there were seven vacancies for enrolled nurses across the country – five of those were part-time positions, and just two were based in the North Island.
HNZ said while it was going through a reset, recruitment for clinical roles responsible for the delivery of frontline services “continues in line with budgeted FTEs”.
