Extra Nurses Will Help Ease Winter Pressure

30 May 2005

Extra Nurses Will Help Ease Winter Pressure

North Shore Hospital is increasing its nursing levels to cope with the busy winter period. Around 50 extra full time nursing positions across medical, surgical, orthopaedic, theatre and emergency departments will help cover the increased workloads, says Daily Operations Unit Manager Linda Moses.

Mrs Moses, who has worked in a variety of nursing positions at the hospital for more than 20 years, says the hospital will hold an open day for registered nurses in June to attract the additional staff.

“Senior nurses will be on hand from each of the specialty areas, and there will be guided tours of the hospital. The positions will be covered by a variety of contract, casual, part-time and full-time staff.”

Registered nurses should bring their current Annual Practising Certificates and be prepared to set up interview times, she says.

The hospital currently has around 300 FTE nursing positions, covered by approximately 1500 registered nurses. Despite global nursing shortages, the hospital is confident it will fill the positions as it has a lot to offer in the way of professional development.

“The hospital is a much busier place than it was two to three years ago. We’ve undergone a lot of expansion and taken on additional services such as acute orthopaedics and acute trauma patients. We have excellent learning and development opportunities thanks to our Nursing Development Service. We also have our own internal nursing bureau service.”

Director of Nursing and Midwifery Jocelyn Peach says the hospital is supporting nurses to meet the needs of the community in winter.

“We're fortunate to have a team of good nurses and midwives at Waitemata DHB I am proud to work with. They take on extra work when demand is high , deal with emotional situations ,crisis and death. Through our winter planning initiatives we are aiming to look after this valuable part of our workforce so they can look after others.”.”

WHAT: North Shore Hospital Nurses Open Day
WHERE: Ambulatory Day Centre, Ground Floor, North Shore Hospital
WHEN: Saturday, June 18 from 1pm to 5pm.

ENDS

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