Nurse students – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

January 2025

‘It’s cruel’ — just one in seven new enrolled nurse graduates get Te Whatu Ora jobs

By Mary Longmore

December 5, 2024

A week after turning away hundreds of RN graduates, Te Whatu Ora confirms it has only offered 15 end-of-year EN graduates a job.

December 2024

Hundreds of nursing graduates miss out on Te Whatu Ora jobs

By Mary Longmore

November 27, 2024

Te Whatu Ora is being accused of failing in its most basic duty — protecting the future nursing workforce of New Zealand.

November 2024

‘The struggle is real’ — nursing students nationwide take to the streets in a call for paid training

By Mary Longmore

October 21, 2024

Nursing students rallied around the country over the weekend in a passionate call for financial support to stem a drop-out rate of one in three.

October 2024

‘Man, it’s a fight’ — nursing students prepare to rally across Aotearoa

By Mary Longmore

October 18, 2024

‘You get through this three years and you’ve fought so hard to get this degree and now we’re fighting to get a job – it’s scary.’

September 2024

New Southern Cross scholarships will fund 17 AUT nursing students on clinical placements

By Mary Longmore

August 28, 2024

Seventeen new scholarships are being launched to support “passionate” and under-represented Auckland University of Technology (AUT) nursing students on clinical placements over the next three years.

September 2024

Left out in the cold: Is it really about health budget constraints?

By Pipi Barton

August 13, 2024

In an urgent call to better support New Zealand-trained nurses, senior Māori nursing lecturer at NorthTec, Pipi Barton (Ngāti Hikairo ki Kāwhia) recalls being an out-of-work nursing graduate in the 1990s.

September 2024

Shauna Power humbled by wāhine toa scholarship

By Renee Kiriona

August 12, 2024

Inspired by her “Poppy” and driven by the need for better health outcomes for Māori, Shauna Power has set her sights on a career in nursing our country’s next generation.

August 2024

Nursing workforce landscape ‘significantly changed’ — Te Whatu Ora

By Mary Longmore

August 7, 2024

Te Whatu Ora says it is “committed to supporting” new nursing graduates who missed out on supported-entry roles to find work — but not in New Zealand’s public hospitals.

August 2024

66 Waikato graduates in limbo after hospital job offer ‘glitch’

By Mary Longmore

August 5, 2024

Sixty-six Hamilton graduates from Wintec’s nursing school are in limbo after Te Whatu Ora Waikato mistakenly offered them supported-entry jobs — then withdrew them due to a human “clerical error”.

August 2024

Jobless nursing graduates feel ‘heart-broken and abandoned’

By Mary Longmore

August 2, 2024

Blindsided, abandoned and heart-broken — these are the feelings of some of our newest nurse graduates who missed out on hospital jobs — many of whom are heading to Australia.

August 2024

Three out of five nursing students to get hospital jobs, Te Whatu Ora figures show

By Mary Longmore

July 24, 2024

Te Whatu Ora says it has employed 334 of the 535 mid-year nursing graduates who applied into supported entry roles — leaving 166 facing uncertain futures in the general talent pool.

August 2024

Nursing students share pain, tears and laughter with heads of school

By Mary Longmore

July 18, 2024

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house recently as nursing tauira (students) spoke of their struggles, exhaustion and despair.

August 2024

‘They have trampled on the mana of the future workforce’ — students in uproar over reports of hiring freeze

By Mary Longmore

June 21, 2024

Confused, demoralised and “absolutely gutwrenched” — these are the feelings of nursing tauira (students) after hearing Te Whatu Ora may be freezing mid-year graduate recruitment a week out from hiring decisions.

February 2024

New scholarship for rainbow nursing students embraces diversity

By Mary Longmore

January 17, 2024

A new scholarship for rainbow nursing students is an “immense” step towards a safe and inclusive nursing workforce that celebrates diversity, say NZNO — Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa student leaders.

September 2023

‘Do you live or do you try and finish this degree?’ — Tauira share the personal toll of trying to become a nurse

By Mary Longmore

August 23, 2023

A third of nursing students are reconsidering their career choice, because the job seems too stressful, an NZNO student survey has found.

June 2023

‘Where’s the plan?’ Student nurses left disappointed by Budget 2023

By Cate Macintosh

May 18, 2023

Nursing students were left bitterly disappointed by Budget 2023, which contained scant specific new initiatives to support them, and grow the nursing workforce.

June 2023

Budget 2023: Bigger investment needed to boost Māori, Pacific nursing

By Cate Macintosh

May 17, 2023

Registered nurse (RN) Jo Fortune, 47, is a passionate advocate for community nursing, and even says she’d encourage her kids to follow in her footsteps – but she hopes Budget 2023 will provide more support for those pursuing the profession.

May 2023

Students and nurses douse National’s ‘brainless’ bonding scheme

By Mary Longmore and Cate Macintosh

May 2, 2023

Would-be-nurses need financial support during their studies — not afterwards, say NZNO nursing students.

March 2023

Napier campus likely to be closed for three months

By Cate Macintosh

February 27, 2023

Hawke’s Bay nursing school staff are juggling clean up operations at home and at work in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle’s devastation, with their Napier campus likely to be closed for three months.

March 2023

Nursing studies on hold as 90 per cent of Napier campus damaged in cyclone

By Cate Macintosh

February 24, 2023

Nursing students at Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) say their programme is in limbo after the flood-damaged Hawke’s Bay campus in Napier closed last week.

13 May	On International Nurses Day a new State of the World’s Nursing Report charts a path toward Universal Health Coverage As the world’s nurses celebrate International Nurses Day (IND), ICN issues a rallying cry to governments around the globe for urgent nursing support, following the launch of the second World Health Organization (WHO) State of the World’s Nursing (SOWN) report.
8 May	NZ First’s gender definition bill will harm mental health, counsellors warn The New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC) is deeply concerned by New Zealand First’s proposed Member’s Bill, which seeks to legally define “man” and “woman” solely based on biological sex.
6 May	Police and Health NZ continue to implement mental health response changes Phase Two of the Police Mental Health Response Change Programme is set to be extended with a second group of districts implementing Phase Two from 19 May.
1 May	New weekend urgent care service launched in Tairāwhati Access to urgent healthcare on weekends will be restored in Tairāwhati this Saturday (3 May 2025) with the launch of a new service, Health Minister Simeon Brown has announced.
29 Apr	Taupō Hospital accredited to train next generation of rural doctors Taupō Hospital has become the first hospital in the North Island to receive accreditation to deliver Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) training, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey have announced.
14 Apr	Rural Health Roadshow to hear from rural communities Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Rural Health and Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey announced today he will be coming to 12 rural locations across the country on a Rural Health Roadshow, starting this week in Levin.
10 Apr	Expanded emergency department at Auckland City Hospital will see capacity increase Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Auckland City Hospital’s newly refurbished adult emergency department.
1 Apr	Health NZ wants your feedback on a Paediatric Adolescent and Young Adult Palliative Model of Care Health New Zealand \| Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) is seeking feedback on potential options for national palliative care services for tamariki, rangatahi/children, young people and their whānau/families.
27 March	Bar still too high for small mental health providers Small mental health providers will still be locked out of co-funding from the Mental Health Innovation Fund despite a lower threshold.
25 March	ICN advocates for health system gender equity and women’s health The International Council of Nurses (ICN) brought the nursing voice to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) which wrapped up on Friday. ICN participated in critical discussions on gender equity and women’s health throughout the event.
19 March	ICN warns of healthcare crisis as USAID funding cuts devastate nursing initiatives in the world’s most vulnerable regions The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has documented alarming firsthand evidence of widespread disruption and collapse of essential health care services following the sudden withdrawal of USAID and other funding.
19 March	New High Dependency Unit will expand critical care services in Wellington Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU).
13 March	Pharmac to fund more cancer medicines Pharmac is funding six more medicines for cancers and one for antibiotic resistant infections.
28 Feb	Pharmac CE resigns The Board of Pharmac wishes to announce that its Chief Executive for the last 7 years, Sarah Fitt, has resigned effective from 30 May 2025.
25 Feb	ICN issues updated statement on health care in conflict, calling for peace and compliance with international humanitarian law In recent years, the world has witnessed a disturbing increase in conflicts and wars, placing immense strain on health systems and exacerbating human suffering. Nurses have been at the forefront of these crises, responding to emergencies, supporting recovery efforts, and providing essential care to those affected by violence and displacement.
21 Feb	ICN’s new guidance on integrating nurse leaders into heart of health workforce planning The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has published a practical guide to including nurses in workforce planning decisions.
17 Feb	ICN warns of effect of US withdrawal from WHO on nurse-led services The International Council of Nurses (ICN) warned that the withdrawal of the United States from WHO has already halted some nurse-led services, including vaccination programmes and care for people with HIV/AIDS.
17 Feb	Minister acknowledges outgoing Director-General Health Minister Simeon Brown has today acknowledged the resignation of Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Sarfati, and thanked her for her service.
12 Feb	Pharmac funds medicines for liver, ovarian, and neuroendocrine cancers People with liver, ovarian, and neuroendocrine cancers will have access to more medicines from 1 March 2025.
11 Feb	Consultation begins on work to improve patient access to medical devices Pharmac is continuing to improve the way medical devices are managed for New Zealanders, today opening consultation on its comprehensive list of medical devices used by public hospitals.
3 Feb	First Whānau Āwhina Plunket site in NZ delivering childhood vaccinations Childhood immunisations are now being delivered at a Whānau Āwhina Plunket site in Whāngarei, with other regions soon to also provide the new service.
29 Jan	Local access to specialist audiology services comes to Wairarapa A newly established out-patient clinic for ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and audiology appointments is providing Wairarapa patients with local access to specialist hearing services for the first time.
29 Jan	Pharmac reconsiders oestradiol patch options following community feedback Pharmac is reviewing and reconsidering its oestradiol patch options after considerable feedback was received when it announced a move to a single funded brand late last year.
22 Jan	Consultations for cancer and ADHD medicines close soon Pharmac is encouraging people to have their say on proposals to fund six more medicines and change the brand of one medicine before consultation closes on 27 January.