Many Māori nurses are heading overseas, contributing to a workforce shortage in Aotearoa, but a Māori nursing trainer says jobs aren’t the issue.
Today, around 36,000 Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, and health workers will strike from 11 am to7 pmm, citing overwork and understaffing.
Hemaima Hughes, from the National Council of Māori Nurses, says graduates aren’t being encouraged to work in areas like aged care or hospice, which could ease pressure on hospitals.
Māori make up just 7% of the nursing workforce, and since 1983, the council has worked to boost representation and improve Māori health outcomes.
Modern expectations of nursing are more idealistic than pragmatic.
“We have to be prepared to actually start at the bottom and work up, and that’s how I trained like that, and then gradually work your way up. And these days, of course, people are wanting, no, I don’t want to do shift work when they’re interviewed. No, there are things that they don’t want to do. Well, you know, these are some of the challenges that we have to deal with in practice,” says Hughes.
Hemaima Hughes says health providers must step up and offer better incentives for new graduates.
