Attracting People To The Front Line

21 District Health Boards

Media Release
2 November 2009

Attracting People To The Front Line

Posters, leaflets, Facebook, Twitter, DVDs, TV profile, and a website – Healthcareers has pulled out all the stops in the past year to attract people into health jobs.

The 21 District Health Boards (DHBs) established the Healthcareers collective initiative a year ago to showcase the diverse careers available across the health and disability sector. These include the careers most people know about – such as medicine and nursing – but also roles in health IT, human resources, and as psychologists, social workers, laboratory workers, receptionists, play specialists, chaplains, orderlies and kitchen staff.

Healthcareers spokesperson Cathy Cooney, who’s the Chief Executive of Lakes DHB and the Lead CEO for the 21 DHBs on workforce issues, says Healthcareers has proved very useful in promoting the benefits of working in health.

“DHBs are working with the wider sector to make sure health is a great place to work,” she says. “The Healthcareers promotion is really drawing on the expertise of a wide range of people and organisations.”

There are a number of ways people can find out about careers in health:
• The interactive Healthcareers website (www.healthcareers.org.nz) provides information for people new to health, those currently in or returning to the health workforce, and people living overseas who want to work in health here.
• Information is available via Facebook and Twitter, and the work of various health professionals is profiled to highlight their specialties (www.facebook.com/pages/Health-Careers-NZ/93898040775 and www.twitter.com/HealthCareersNZ).
• The TV series Just the Job has profiled roles in health such as emergency work, mental health, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy.
• Healthcareers features on the Inzone Bus (a mobile careers expo that tours secondary schools) and on 100 kiosks that highlight health careers in secondary schools.
• Healthcareers took part recently in its first international recruitment drive in Birmingham and London. A total of 226 expressions of interest were received from UK doctors keen to find out more about working in New Zealand and their details have been sent to DHBs to follow up.

“This is about building the future health workforce that New Zealand needs and the achievements of the past year are heartening,” says Cathy Cooney. “People wanting to work in health have about 80 careers to choose from and all of them make a real contribution to the health and wellbeing of our communities.”

Ms Cooney says careers in health are worthwhile, valued, portable, diverse and intellectually stimulating.

ENDS

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