Nursing graduate applies for more than 100 jobs without success
Nursing graduates in Aotearoa (New Zealand) are struggling to find jobs despite a reported national nursing shortage, with one graduate applying for over 100 positions without success. This situation is leading some to consider moving to Australia or leaving the profession entirely, while the nurse's union warns of a deepening health system crisis.
Why it matters
This highlights a critical disconnect between the perceived demand for nurses and the reality faced by new graduates, potentially exacerbating healthcare staffing issues and leading to a brain drain of medical professionals from New Zealand.
Nursing graduates who have applied for hundreds of jobs and have not found work say it's devastating to hear there's a shortage of nurses. <b>By Bella Craig </b><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/health/1067945/nursing-graduate-applies-for-more-than-100-jobs-without-success"><b>of RNZ</b></a> The nurse's union says Aotearoa's health system is falling into a deeper crisis, with emergency departments and wards <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/08/20/when-an-overloaded-ed-gets-it-wrong-who-should-be-accountable/">bursting at the seams</a>. It follows <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/08/19/documents-reveal-health-nz-hiring-crackdown/">revelations</a> that Health New Zealand has hired just 54 full-time equivalent nurses in the past two years. The situation is driving some graduates to consider <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/17/its-just-better-why-kiwi-nurses-are-moving-to-australia/">making the move to Australia</a>, joining their course mates who have already left. After finishing hundreds of unpaid placement hours in Auckland, Megan completed her Bachelor of Nursing late last year. In Aotearoa, new nurses have to apply for graduate positions, some do this through Te Whatu Ora's application system called ACE. Others apply directly to private hospitals, community organisations and primary care.
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