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Pacific nursing tutor Teramira Schutz
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Philippines-trained RN Juan Miguel Novera
“It’s quite frustrating just to resume my practice here in New Zealand, it takes a toll, money-wise. We have to make all that effort – wait three years and get our nursing profession started up, submit residency and still [be] waiting in 10 years.” |
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New graduate Algy Babu
“. . . maybe with luck or with God’s grace, the rules may change and my family and my friends will pray for that”. |
Six years years after moving here from the Philippines with his family and still waiting for residency, Hamilton-based registered nurse (RN) Juan Miguel Novera has given up on his Kiwi dream.
“To be honest, I have applied in Australia and accepted a job there,” Novera told Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand.
Novera, his wife Jewel and children Jade and Carmelo, plan to leave by Christmas for Bendigo, Victoria, where he has a job lined up as an RN in aged care. Jewel — a Philippines-trained nurse — will also be able to complete the Australian bachelor of nursing (BN) for free, under Victoria’s new fees-free initiative.
Novera fronted an NZNO submission in February for an inquiry on migrant exploitation, and spoke of the bullying endured by IQNs in an aged care home he worked at for eight months — an experience he describes as “traumatic”.
‘They are kind of compelled to stay with that employer even if they get a lot of bullying.’
Posters with the words “If you are not happy, LEAVE” and “You are here because of me” were displayed in the staffroom after he had the effrontery to ask that he and colleagues be paid their contracted overtime rates.
NZNO’s submission on migrant exploitation by policy advisor Sue Gasquoine suggests IQNs, often in aged care, are “exploited” by employers who have supported their residency visa applications.
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment immigration policy manager Andrew Craig confirmed to Kaitiaki there was “no requirement to remain with a single employer for 24 months” under the green list work-to-residence visa.
However migrant nurse Saju Cherian — an NZNO board member — said many felt it was too risky to change jobs while waiting for residency, “so they are kind of compelled to stay with that employer even if they get a lot of bullying”. He said the two-year wait made this worse, and believes it should be scrapped to give migrant nurses more flexibility.
‘In our unit, it would implode without IQNs.’
Novera said a two-year period tied to one employer had been a condition for a skilled migrant visa pre-COVID. Other pressures also tied migrants to employers, such as the $600 cost to apply for a new work visa and bad reference threats.
Novera, meanwhile, quit aged care for a hospital role. But — heavily in debt and trying to raise two kids — he was exhausted by the endless hurdles, delays and costs he and Jewel have faced trying to set up their lives here as nurses.
“It’s quite frustrating just to resume my practice here in New Zealand — it takes a toll, money-wise. We have to make all that effort – wait three years and get our nursing profession started up, submit residency and still waiting in 10 years.”
‘So unless they’re saying they will prioritise nurses, it’s not going to help much for our current crisis or for nurses who are weighing their options — should they stay or move to Australia?’
Arriving in 2016 on a partnership visa with Jewel, who was studying, Novera worked as a support worker for three years, waiting to gain his nursing registration before applying for residency. He eventually “scraped together and borrowed” $10,000 for the competency assessment programme (CAP) required by the Nursing Council for most IQNs to register, and is now working as an RN for Te Whatu Ora.
As a new graduate, Jewel did not have the two years’ experience required to apply to register here, so would have to retrain “from the ground up”.
The couple applied in December 2021 for a new one-off resident visa introduced for 165,000 migrants after the lockdowns, “and are still waiting”.
Pacific perspective
For Kiribati-trained Wellington nursing tutor Teramira Schutz, it was only the kindness of an aged care home manager which got her through the visa minefield. “I was lucky enough to have a work visa before I was granted permanent residency — and that’s through one of the managers, for which I’m so grateful that she took on my CV”.
She entered in 2006 on a visitors’ visa but couldn’t get a job without a work visa, until a Wellington aged care home supported her application.
‘I had to make sure I came back and served my country — that helps the country as well.’
Despite holding postgraduate clinical nursing and management qualifications and director of nursing experience in Kiribati, Schutz worked as a caregiver for a few months while saving for her CAP before she was able to practice as an RN.
It took another two years to gain residency, in 2008, and Schutz went on to work at Keneperu Hospital in Porirua before becoming a tutor at Whitireia Institute’s bachelor of nursing Pacific (BNP) in 2012.
Pacific partnerships
A better approach, Schutz suggests, is for Immigration NZ to work “in partnership” with schools of nursing and employers to open Aotearoa’s borders to Pacific-trained nurses and offer short bridging courses into the workforce.
“There are some level six graduates in the islands who really want to migrate, but there are barriers to do that. So maybe we advertise the opportunities like the BNP is doing with its graduate diploma next year.”
In 2023, Whitireia plans to launch an 18-month post-graduate diploma in Pacific nursing, aimed at getting Pacific-trained nurses with New Zealand residency and two years’ experience in their home countries into the nursing workforce here.
However, it was crucial those nurses return to their home countries and work for a period of time, Schutz said — as she did after studying in Australia and New Zealand. “I went away and did my studies and I had to make sure I came back and served my country — I was bonded for two years — that helps the country as well,” said Schutz. “It’s a win-win if they go back and work there . . . but they can always migrate [back to New Zealand] later on.”
Such partnership may also encourage a two-way flow and sharing of skills, with New Zealand-trained nurses working in the Pacific, she said. “It would be helpful, not just for the country, but for the individual nurse if they want to gain knowledge and skills from other cultures.”
Schutz — who migrated with her family so her children could have more opportunities — suggest it could be akin to Pacific seasonal workers in New Zealand’s horticulture industry. “Nurses could come and get their registration and then go back, then it’s easier to apply for residency.”
‘Pacific nurses are really valuable as they know how to get into their people’s lives.’
NZNO manager professional and nursing services Mairi Lucas said it was important to support Pasifika nurses wanting to come to work in New Zealand, to get better health outcomes for Pacific communities here.
“Māori and Pacific are the two areas that we have to grow fast, we have to find ways to do that. Pacific nurses are really valuable as they know how to get into their people’s lives – and Pacific and Māori are the worst-off health-wise. So we want to support them to come in, do a bridging course . . . and pull them up to level with New Zealand RNs and get them where they need to be working.”
Two year wait for work-to-residency ‘disappointing’
For new graduate Algy Babu, from Kerala, India, plans are “on hold” for two years as she waits for residency after qualifying as an RN here.
Babu, who this year graduated with a BN from UCOL Manawatū, wants residency so she can take up postgraduate studies and realise her dream of working as a surgical nurse in New Zealand. But the Government’s new green list in October put nurses on tier two with a two-year work-to-residency requirement. Overseas doctors can apply for immediate residency under tier one.
“When the rules came of the green list that I need to stay here for two years to get my residency, I really thought of going to Australia,” she told Kaitiaki. “I calculated the points and I was eligible. . . but I thought the rules may change, that’s why I stayed.”
Nearly $60,000 in debt as an international student, Babu decided to stay.
“I thought I will wait here because I’ve got my friends, cousins, and I was first here in New Zealand and I like this place very much. So I would stay here, and maybe with luck or with God’s grace, the rules may change and my family and my friends will pray for that.”
‘When the rules came of the green list that I need to stay here for two years to get my residency, I really thought of going to Australia.’
It was hard to find work without a residency visa, but she has now found a job at Hawke’s Bay Hospital under the nurse-entry-to-practice programme (NETP). She is applying for residency under the recently re-opened skilled migrant category but has no idea how long it will take. “. . . maybe it will take two years, we are not sure”.
Cherian said the wait for residency was “a major issue” for IQNs. Cherian, who migrated from Kerala, India, said post-COVID pathways for migrant nurses had been “quite disappointing”.
“The problem is we don’t know how long it will take to process. The skilled migrant category is not just open for nurses, it’s open for everyone. So there will be heaps of applications because it was stopped for more than a couple of years now.” he said. “So unless they’re saying they will prioritise nurses, it’s not going to help much for our current crisis or for nurses who are weighing their options — should they stay or move to Australia?”
Without IQNs we would ‘implode’
NZNO delegate Debbie Robinson says Dunedin Hospital’s critical care unit would “implode” without IQNs. “Over 40 per cent of the staff are now IQNs, most days we get texts for overtime — we just wouldn’t be functioning . . . In our unit, it would implode without them.”
Robinson is working with NZNO president Anne Daniels to help nurses struggling with their work or residency visa. “NZNO is looking into this . . . hopefully we can highlight it.”
Some highly skilled nurses who were “desperate” stay here were giving up, she said.
“For some, it’s been nearly a year and most more than six months, going back and forth, getting things that the immigration department requires. Then they don’t hear, so they’re just wondering where they are on the list, are they at the bottom or in the middle?”
Robinson said one IQN couple with critical care experience were thinking of moving to Australia because of the long wait. “They say, ‘no, we want to stay here, but we can’t get residency so we have no choice’.”
‘Strong’ demand from offshore nurses
Immigration Minister Michael Wood told Kaitiaki the Government “absolutely” acknowledged the need to attract more nurses and had set up new and faster pathways for them this year in its immigration “rebalance”.
Previously, only aged-care nurses had a pathway to residence (two years). “Now all registered nurse roles, midwives and secondary teachers with certain specialisations as well as registered early childhood teachers have a clear pathway to residence based on their occupation.”
Demand had been “strong” from offshore nurses, with more than 1200 arriving this year alone.
There had been 700 applications by nurses to the green list since it opened in October, a spokesperson for Minister of Health Andrew Little said. But just 47 of the 482 offshore nurses approved had arrived so far — which was “not unusual” due to the challenges of moving countries, she said.
Wood said Immigration NZ and Te Whatu Ora were working closely to “streamline and support the recruitment of nurses, including supporting successful candidates through the immigration system”.
A new aged care sector agreement also allowed employers to recruit migrant workers for care and support at level 3 pay ($26.16/hr), with a two-year work-to-residence pathway once they reached level 4 rates.
“As a government, we absolutely acknowledge the need to attract and retain nurses and aged care workers during a global shortages.”
Wood said he would be “willing to act” if required before the planned 2023 review of the green list.
A senior Ministry of Health (MoH) staff member has called for an urgent review of the green list, it was revealed on Wednesday. A leaked briefing from the MoH’s deputy director of strategy, policy and legislation Maree Roberts asked for enrolled nurses to be included on the list alongside RNs, and nurse practitioners to be prioritised.
A review of the settings was planned for 2023, but ministers “will be willing to act” before that if required, Wood said.
Meanwhile, Novera says he and his family might return some day.
“I don’t see myself closing my doors here – my kids love it here. I can see myself coming back here after six years . . . maybe when the system is working a bit better.”
For details on the Whitireia 2023 post-graduate diploma in Pacific nursing, please contact [email protected].