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Today is a happy day for migrant nurses looking to make
New Zealand home. For not-for-profit providers of Aged Care
like Presbyterian Support, it feels like Christmas actually
came early. That’s because from this day, nurses are to be
added to the immigration “Green List” fast track, able
to apply for immediate residency. Presbyterian Support’s
National Executive Dr Prudence Stone says it gives their
Federation something at last to celebrate this
Christmas.
“We didn’t celebrate too much when
government’s long negotiated, long wished-for pay parity
settlement with Aged Care nurses was announced recently,
because we knew that measure only corrected a wrong of times
past,” said Dr Prudence Stone, Presbyterian Support NZ’s
National Executive Officer. “But as employers of migrant
nurses, their getting on the Green List is like us getting
on Santa’s Goody List! Now we can finally attract the
internationally qualified nurses we need to provide the
specialist care New Zealanders need, as they
age.”
Stone argues there’s nothing like a pandemic
to throw a spotlight on how counter-intuitive it is for a
nation to not only not train enough New Zealand
nurses, but also not pay them fair wages for this
essential labour. The conditions have over time created a
shortage of nurses in specialist fields across New Zealand,
and the burden of attracting migrant nurses, then retaining
them, has fallen too long on the shoulders of charitable
entities.
For New Zealanders with disabilities and for
older New Zealanders, Presbyterian Support provides
healthcare and support services known locally as Enliven.
Due to the shortage of aged care nurses in New Zealand, the
Charity’s four regions providing Aged Residential Care
wish to welcome as many internationally qualified migrant
nurses as would choose to make New Zealand their home. Since
the pandemic however, they’ve struggled to retain nurses,
because Government’s funding left them paying much lower
wages than their local DHB counterparts.
“It’s
been a rough, really tough year for many, so Enliven centres
across Aotearoa are toasting government this Christmas, for
correcting ghosts of Christmas past with pay parity, then
granting immediate residency to all our migrant nurses this
Christmas.”
“Our Enliven nurses enjoy a unique
philosophy of care and great teamwork experiences in all
kinds of regional localities. We hope the Green List gives
more internationally qualified nurses confidence to settle
here with us, longterm.”
Presbyterian Support NZ
toast also the work done by the New Zealand Aged Care
Association over 2022, leading its members in advocacy to
resolve the nation’s shortage of aged care nurses through
pay parity, pay equity and immigration
measures.
© Scoop Media
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