\u201cWe apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, but the extra time will be used to consider additional positions across Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora,\u201d ACE organisers wrote.<\/p>\n
National Student Unit (NSU) chair Davis Ferguson said he was excited to find out on Wednesday where he might be placed when he started work.<\/p>\n
He said he was aware of controversy surrounding Health NZ plans to hire more graduate nurses on part-time hours<\/a>, but had to hope that the health agency was acting in good faith.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very powerless situation, because I can\u2019t have any control over how many jobs there are going to be in nursing, so you\u2019ve got to take it at face value,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing you can really do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n He said watching the changes in the health system had \u201cbeen a rollercoaster\u201d during his last three years of study.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom when I first started \u2013 hearing students are pretty much guaranteed a job \u2013 to this year, where only 45 per cent of nursing graduates got jobs in the mid-year intake.<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n He said the state of the health system had \u201cstrengthened my resolve\u201d to make a difference in his future role.<\/p>\n \u201cWe go into nursing, because we want to help.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s made a lot of people disheartened and more likely to go over to Australia, or seek other employment in places that they never considered, but I think everyone is doing the best they can at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n He hoped any additional positions uncovered in the delayed process would offer enough hours to properly support the nurses.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope this delay leads to better quality jobs for nursing graduates. We\u2019re wanting to be looked after by good quality jobs, so we can be the best nurses for our patients.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking sure that new grad nurses can put food on their table and a roof over their head, so we can provide a quality healthcare for our New Zealand public.\u201d<\/p>\n