Filling 100 vacant nursing jobs is still a “key issue” for Auckland’s Waitematā District Health Board, a recent meeting agenda shows.
The board’s Hospital Advisory committee met on June 23 where the “key issue of the month” was the DHB seeking to employ 100 new nurses as part of its care capacity plan.
The programme was set up to improve patient care and the working environment.
In the agenda, the DHB said: “This extra recruitment on top of our normal turnover means there is significant capacities and demand for extra nurses.”
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The DHB first announced its need for 100 extra nurses in late March despite starting recruitment earlier.
About 2900 nurses were already employed by the DHB, which is responsible for North Shore and Waitākere hospitals.
As of July 1, just 37 of the 100 roles have been filled.
Positions ranged from graduate to specialised nursing roles and would be spread across departments such as cardiology and theatre.
A spokeswoman for the DHB said to accurately reflect the communities it served, Māori recruitments were a top priority.
The June agenda said hiring staff had been a challenge as the DHB was competing with other DHBs, aged care and the Covid-19 programme.
Being able to appoint quality staff was essential for quality of care, it said.
“The demand for nurses right across New Zealand is well documented and currently exacerbated by increased staffing requirements for the national Covid-19 testing and vaccination programme,” the spokeswoman said.
“However, it is worth noting that nationally, Waitematā DHB’s nurse vacancy rate is below average and one of the lowest in the country.”
According to Technical Advisory Services, an organisation which provides data from within the health sector, as of March 31, Auckland DHB had a 6.4 per cent nurse vacancy rate, Waitematā DHB 5.2 per cent and Counties Manukau Health had a 4.7 per cent vacancy rate.
Lakes DHB had the highest nurse vacancy rate at 11.1 per cent, while at least six DHBs had lower vacancy rates than Waitematā.
Hutt Valley DHB had the lowest with just 0.9 per cent.
The Waitematā DHB spokeswoman said its nursing staff were not “immune” to pressures of the job.
Planning was also underway to address morale issues stemming from industrial action.
Earlier this month, strike action involving nurses, midwives and health care assistants took place all over the country.
It came after 30,000 members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation voted to reject the latest offer from the DHBs amid concerns about pay, conditions and safe staffing.
NZNO lead advocate David Wait said members were facing serious workforce issues, with pay rates that did not attract people to the sector and staffing levels which stretched them to breaking point.
In the meeting agenda, Waitematā DHB said it was reliant on retaining experienced staff.
The spokeswoman said it had a dedicated team that focused on staff wellbeing and was looking at ways to address and acknowledge morale issues and “seasonal pressures”.
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