Hundreds Of Experienced International Nurses Jobless Amid Nursing Shortage

28
May 2024

Blessen
Tom, journalist

Hundreds of experienced
international nurses from India who are registered to work
in New Zealand are reportedly struggling to find jobs amid a
nursing shortage.

The nurses, mostly from southern
India, are recent graduates of the Competence Assessment
Programme (CAP), a mandatory course the Nursing Council
formerly asked internationally qualified nurses to complete
before working in New Zealand.

In December, the
Nursing Council announced that migrants from countries other
than the US, UK, Ireland, Singapore, and the Canadian
provinces of British Columbia and Ontario would need to pass
an Objective
Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) before working in
the country’s healthcare sector.

The new assessment,
consisting of both theoretical and clinical components,
replaced the CAP pathway.

However, internationally
qualified nurses who had signed up for a six- to eight-week
CAP course at Nursing Council-accredited providers before 4
December were still allowed to be registered via the CAP
pathway – even if the course was undertaken during this
calendar year.

As a result, hundreds of these
registered nurses now find themselves in a bind after
failing to secure employment despite graduating from the CAP
course.

At the same time, Te Whatu Ora data obtained
by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) revealed that
more than a quarter of nursing shifts in hospitals fell
short of staffing targets in the year leading up to 31
December.

Many of the nurses who are struggling to
secure work relocated to New Zealand on a one-year visitor
visa to complete the CAP requirements.

“I came to New
Zealand with many dreams, but the situation is really bad,”
said Litty Liju, a nurse with 12 years of experience in the
Middle East.

Liju arrived in Palmerston North on a
visitor visa to begin a CAP course on 18
February.

“I’ve applied for more than 500 positions,
including hospitals and aged care facilities across both the
North and South islands,” she said.

Liju said
potential employers had declined to sponsor her and, without
a work visa, she was stuck in limbo.

She came to New
Zealand with her husband and two children aged five and 10,
making life especially difficult.

“I cannot send my
kids to school and my husband, who is an experienced
accountant, is unable to work without a proper visa,” Liju
said.

Previously employed at the Ministry of Health in
Kuwait, Liju said surviving in New Zealand without a job was
terrifying.

“I anticipated a short waiting period
between finishing the CAP and finding a job, but I never
thought it would take this long,” she said.

Akhil
Venugopal has encountered similar obstacles, with potential
employers refusing to offer him work while he is on a
visitor visa.

Venugopal, who worked as a surgical
nurse for nine years in the Indian city of Bengaluru, also
moved to Palmerston North to participate in a CAP
course.

“I’ve applied for more than 400 jobs after
finishing the CAP in March,” Venugopal said.

He said
employers were not willing to sponsor him for work while on
a visitor visa.

Venugopal holds a one-year visitor
visa but can only stay for six months at a time after
entering New Zealand.

“I’m not in a position to buy a
ticket home and come back again,” he said.

Venugopal
has spent about $35,000 on CAP fees, travel costs and living
expenses in New Zealand in his bid to secure
work.

Although employers have offered Venugopal casual
or part-time contracts, he is unable to accept them due to
his visitor visa status.

“The biggest challenge for us
is the lack of a visa, so we request the authorities to
consider giving us at least a short-term job search visa,”
Venugopal said.

Saju Cherian, a nurse at Palmerston
North Hospital and a member of the nurses’ organization
board, said nurses did not anticipate being without work for
four or five months after completing a CAP
course.

Cherian conducted an informal survey through
social media, which revealed that over 400 nurses were
affected similarly in the lower North Island.

“I think
there will be at least 1,000 nurses without jobs after their
registration in New Zealand right now, if we include the
whole country, and more are on the way,” he
said.

Cherian said it was common for Indian nurses to
enter the country on visitor visas to participate in the CAP
course.

“CAP is only three months or less, so they
don’t get any other visas in New Zealand,” Cherian
said.

The Nursing Council was obligated to register
international nurses who have completed a CAP course,
regardless of whether they can gain employment in New
Zealand, a spokesperson from the council said.

“We
acknowledge that it is a very stressful situation for those
nurses who have not been able to gain employment after
completing a CAP and gaining registration, but it is a
situation we have no control over,” the spokesperson
said.

The Nursing Council said 4084 nurses gained
registration after completing a CAP between 1 January and 31
December 2023.

“The council is aware that nurses may
complete CAP programmes on a visitor visa,” the spokesperson
said.

NZNO members rallied across the country on 9
May, calling for additional funds to increase staff
numbers.

“The data shows that many shifts fall below
targets, indicating that there aren’t enough nurses,” said
Kerri Nuku, kaiwhakahaere of NZNO.

Nuku said reduced
staffing levels posed a heightened risk to patient safety
and mortality.

Andrew Slater, chief people officer of
Health New Zealand, said the figures released by NZNO
reflected workforce shortages across New Zealand’s health
system and overseas.

“The latest data available (as of
31 December 2023) shows we have around 28,200 nursing FTEs
(full-time equivalents) across Health NZ,” Slater said. “Our
vacancy rate for nursing had dropped to 1817 vacancies (or
6.1 percent) as of 31 December 2023.

“These are
largely in specific nursing specialist areas, including
mental health and addiction services and critical care
nurses,” he said.

Liju hopes to get a short-term visa
to apply for casual jobs so that her family can survive
until she gets a permanent job.

“My visa ends in
August,” she said. “It’s a race against time for our
family.”

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