New Zealand a global player in nursing shortages
16 April 2007Until health workers are fairly remunerated in New Zealand, the country will not be self sufficient in generating its own healthcare workforce, says New Zealand Nurses Organisation chief Geoff Annals.
Nurses are a scarce resource worldwide, and New Zealand is contributing to the healthcare crisis in other countries by being a net importer of health workers, he says. “We must acknowledge that we live in a world where health problems are greatest precisely where health workers are most scarce.”
A World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting this month setting out principles for global nursing and midwifery workforces said each country must put in place policies to ensure self-sufficiency in workforce production.
Fair pay and safe staffing is fundamental to this, because nursing, midwifery and caregiving must be considered worthwhile and rewarding careers for young New Zealanders, Annals says. “This requires salaries that fairly recognise the skills, knowledge and responsibilities required to care for others, and employers’ workplace policies that enable safe and effective professional practice.”
|
WHO statistics show a shortfall of over four million health workers worldwide. Health systems in a number of industrialized countries depend heavily on doctors and nurses who have been trained abroad. In Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, a quarter or more of all physicians have been imported from other countries. On average one in four doctors and one nurse in 20 trained in Africa is working in OECD countries. Some countries have been hit harder than others. For example, 29% of Ghana’s physicians are working abroad, as are 34% of Zimbabwean nurses. |
Read New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation press release
Read World Health Organisation information on the global shortage of health workers
