Sue Hayward
A community newspaper advertising campaign calling for registered and enrolled nurses and midwives keen to return to work at Waikato, Thames, Te Kūiti, Taumarunui or Tokoroa hospitals has hit the target.
The News understands within hours of the advert going in newspapers like ours, Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) Waikato’s lines were running hot from people wanting to return to the clinical workforce working flexible hours.
Chief nursing and midwifery officer Sue Hayward said the advert prompted 180 people to ask for more information.
“This is a local campaign designed to reach out to people in the Waikato who are not currently working as a registered nurse, an enrolled nurse or midwife who may be interested in coming back to work on a flexible working arrangement. They may be at home with a young family. They may be not able to commit to a full time role but will consider working flexi-hours that suit their lifestyle,” she said.
“Nurses are our largest work group and, with a limited number of qualified practitioners locally and globally, it is one of the most challenging to attract and retain good levels of staffing in our hospitals. Providing a supportive environment with flexible working options will help to maintain our nursing levels so that they can get on and do the job they chose to train in, which is to make a difference in our communities, and provide the highly skilled care required when people are seriously sick.”
Hayward, who lives in Cambridge, said staffing wards and any clinical area was a challenging situation with current nursing vacancies and a tight local and international market.
“So there is a the need to think creatively and offering flexible working options for attracting nurses back to Te Whatu Ora Waikato we hope will prove an attractive option. Plus, it just make sense for us to be finding ways to accommodate those skilled people who want to be part of nursing, but aren’t able to commit full-time for any number of reasons. Opportunities exist in rural and urban and community settings and women’s health for midwives.”
The campaign will run until the end of January.
Check out our December 8 edition for more details.
