Campbell says as well as this, five medical students are starting with Te Whatu Ora - Taranaki this week.
“They will receive the practical experience required for their degree, as well as help our medical teams with the high numbers of inpatient presentations we are continuing to experience. An added bonus is that once they graduate, they often want to return to work in our hospitals for the Taranaki lifestyle they enjoyed during their training.”
In the coming fortnight, Gillian expects 20 new registrars to join. Registrars are doctors that are in at least their third year working post-graduation. Many are participating in specialist training programmes.
In addition to the graduate nurses and doctors, Te Whatu Ora is actively working across the motu to improve staff shortages with initiatives such as its Return to Nursing Workforce Support Fund.
The fund removes financial barriers for nurses who wish to return to nursing but need to complete additional training due to time spent out of the nursing workforce.
The fund supports New Zealand-based nurses without an annual practising certificate and overseas nurses working as healthcare assistants or support workers in New Zealand by providing up to $5,000 to assist with the costs of returning to practice.
Gillian says more than 225 applications have been approved since the fund was launched. A new funding round recently opened, and applications will be reviewed monthly.
“We are very keen to help nurses wishing to return with their applications to join us at Te Whatu Ora in Taranaki. Anyone considering a return can contact the hospital to talk it through.”
The fund also complements the international recruitment campaign run by Te Whatu Ora, Make a Difference Somewhere Different.
The campaign links people to somewheredifferent.co.nz, where people can learn more about living in New Zealand and how our International Recruitment Centre can help them. There’s already been some great initial numbers, with over nine million ad impressions, over 40,000 visits to the landing page and 150 direct enquires to the international recruitment team.
As of January 16, Te Whatu Ora has received 324 candidate applications from the international recruitment campaign, and 113 new applications through the international generalist nursing campaign. The campaign page has been visited over 260,000 times.
