Health NZ Plans to Reduce Hours and Training for Graduate Nurses
A leaked document reveals Health NZ is planning to employ more graduate nurses on part-time hours and cut the amount of on-the-job training they receive.
Health NZ says it is indeed about creating more “flexible” job options – but the country’s biggest nurses’ union accuses it of cost-cutting and “gaming the numbers”, and warns more graduates will go overseas.
The “Reset and Review” paper obtained by RNZ lays out Health NZ’s plan to boost graduate employment by creating more part-time jobs, and encouraging other employers to take them on.
It is reducing minimum hours from four days a week to three,or 0.6 of a full-time equivalent position (FTE).
The paper said its focus was on solutions that would help deal with the problem of nursing graduates without work and “long-term reduction of cost”.
Changes include:
Reducing the minimum FTE from 0.8 FTE to 0.6 FTE
reducing “clinical load sharing” (previously called “supernumerary” hours, as the new graduates were not counted on the shift roster) from 240 hours to 80 hours.
* Reducing study hours from 96 to 80,including all mandatory training,to “reduce the time out of the clinical learning habitat”.
Nurses Organisation student spokesperson, Bianca Grimmer, who lives in Auckland, said it would be hard to make ends meet on a 0.6 job.
“We’re on placement at the moment and hearing from nurses who are on 0.8 already and they’re working two or three other jobs as that doesn’t cut it.
“Depending were you live in New Zealand, it’s looking pretty rough on 0.6, to be honest.”
Health NZ figures showed just 45 percent of mid-year graduates secured hospital jobs in July.
The Reset document says the changes would “clarify” that Health NZ employed “to vacancy”, not to entry-to-practice programmes.
Grimmer expected more graduates would head directly to Australia, where they could earn more and pay off student debt faster.
“The trend just keeps getting worse for student nurses at the moment, especially for those set to graduate at the end of the year, which is where I’m at.
“It’s already looking pretty scarce for job opportunities, and now they’re cutting FTE back to 0.6, which is barely anything.”
Health NZ “gaming” the numbers,says union
Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels said it appeared Health NZ was trying to “make its numbers look good” by hiring more nurses – but giving them fewer hours.
“If you have budgeted FTE for 10 nurses, and you hire them all at 0.6, you can get lots more nurses for the same money.
“But that doesn’t do anything for the understaffing or under-resourcing or the overworking or the huge workloads, nor the appropriate standard of care that we should be providing to our patients.
“It’s gaming.”