29 August, 2008
CDHB Launches Campaign To Boost Nursing Numbers
The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) is beginning a new campaign this weekend to attract nurses who have been out
of the workforce back into the profession.
The ‘I Came Back to Nursing’ campaign is targeting registered and enrolled nurses who have already worked in the
profession to encourage them to help fill workforce gaps. Nurses who have already come back to nursing at the CDHB have
been identified as the “faces” of the campaign and will feature in newspaper and radio advertising over the next few
months.
Executive Director of Nursing Mary Gordon said the CDHB had decided to launch a publicity campaign to attract
experienced nurses back into the workforce as part of an ongoing recruitment strategy. Every six months, the CDHB aims
to attract 50 graduate nurses to work across its hospitals and it also recruits overseas.
“The CDHB has nursing vacancies across a range of clinical settings and we want to encourage Canterbury people who may
not have thought about coming back to work for us to do so,” she said.
Ms Gordon said an advantage of nursing at the CDHB was the opportunity to work flexible hours, which fitted in with
people’s lifestyles and family life. There are three traditional nursing shifts per day and nurses can choose to work a
variety of full or half day shifts. Nurses may also want to join a casual “pool”, which allows them to pick and choose
their hours.
The CDHB also offers ongoing education and support for nurses through its Professional Development Unit and on wards at
each hospital. It works in partnership with external providers such as Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
(CPIT) and Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies, University of Otago, to provide further education.
The CDHB has full and part-time vacancies in a variety of specialities including general surgery, orthopaedics, oncology
and haematology, neurosciences, general medicine, acute stroke, urology/nephrology, women’s and children’s health,
mental health, the Spinal Unit, critical care and emergency nursing.
Anyone who has not worked as a nurse for less than five years can begin work as soon as the Nursing Council of New
Zealand has issued them a current Annual Practising Certificate. For those wanting to refresh their acute nursing
skills, the CDHB offers a course called the Acute Nursing Update – a part time course. Nurses who have not practised for
more than five years must do a period of retraining, called a Competency Assessment Programme, at CPIT.
ENDS