The hospital corridors may be a bit busier this week with 19 new nurses joining the Nelson Marlborough District Hospital Board (NMDHB).
Bailee Spriggs and Emma Gordon graduated in December last year from NMIT and both started work at Nelson Hospital two days after they received their results.
With just 30 in their class, 25 have taken up positions with the NMDHB; 19 starting last week after a week of orientation. The other six started in December.
After leaving school Bailee studied law and politics at university, but says ‘law didn’t do it for me.’ She wanted to do something helping people and has found that with nursing.
While she is caring for others, she is thankful for the supportive team environment she’s working in, and the support offered to new graduates.
NMDHB associate director of nursing for workforce development, Jodie Miller, says new nurses have someone work alongside them for at least the first 16 days.
They also have a team to help them and offer feedback for the remainder of the year.
For Bailee, the biggest surprise so far has been experiencing the ‘imposter syndrome’ - doubting you abilities, for the first few weeks on the ward.
“At first I was going to ask a nurse to sign out Panadol,” Bailee says.
Emma Gordon says she went into nursing straight from school. She also wanted to help people and is finding nursing is fulfilling that need.
With the class graduating from NMIT last year being one of the smallest they have had, there are still positions to fill and management is hoping to recruit those who have nursed in the past.
Jodie returned to nursing after six years and is hoping others will do the same.
“If you have been out for under five years it’s a straightforward process,” Jodie says. “If it’s over five years it is still doable.”
For those who have been out of nursing for over five years, a 12 week return to nursing course is held at NMIT with the majority of that time spent in clinical practice.
“Those who have been out of nursing for a while can bring life experience,” Jodie says.
NMDHB director of nursing and midwifery, Sandy McLean-Cooper, says they want New Zealand nurses back and a campaign is running overseas to call them home.
“There is a smooth pathway through MIQ for them.”
Sandy says it is good for nurses from small district health boards to experience working in larger hospitals.
They can bring back valuable learning from their time overseas, but Sandy says the important thing is that they come back.
