NEW ZEALAND HEALTH INFORMATION SERVICE
Non-practising Nurses and Midwives 2000
In February 2000, the Ministry of Health commissioned the Nursing Council of New Zealand and the New Zealand Health Information Service to conduct research into nurses and midwives who purchase Annual Practising Certificates but choose not to work in clinical practice.
The survey sought information from nurses and midwives about why they chose not to work in a clinical setting and about changes to the current nursing environment that would attract them back into the workforce.
Number of nurses involved
A non-practising nursing/midwifery 2000 survey was sent to 6943 nurses/enrolled nurses and midwives. The survey received a response rate of 49 percent.
How many nurses and midwives would consider returning to the clinical workforce?
Of the 2071 registered nurses and midwives who selected a non-practising work-type code, 1576 (76.1 percent) reported that they would consider returning to the clinical workforce, and of these 787 (50 percent) reported that they would be prepared to travel in order to work in a nursing or midwifery position.
Seventy-nine percent (or 287) of enrolled nurses who selected a non-practising work-type code indicated that they would consider returning to the clinical workforce, and of these 157 would be prepared to travel to work in a clinical position.
Why are nurses choosing not to work in clinical practice?
The most often reported reasons for choosing not to work in clinical practice were the same for registered nurses and midwives, and enrolled nurses. The top three were:
- I have parental or child care responsibilities.
- The hours I have to work don’t suit me.
- The salary is not attractive to me.
Factors that would attract nurses back to the clinical workforce
The most often reported factors that would assist registered nurses and midwives to return to clinical practice were:
- More flexible hours of work.
- Availability of return to work programmes.
- Salary increase.
- Provision of child care facilities.
The most commonly reported factors that would assist enrolled nurses to return to clinical practice were:
- Improved image of nursing or midwifery.
- More flexible hours of work.
- Provision of child care facilities.
- Salary increase.
There was no significant difference in the attraction factors reported by Māori or Pacific Island nurses or midwives compared with those of other ethnic affiliations.
Which areas of nursing would benefit?
Registered nurses and midwives reported that they would be interested in returning to work in all areas of nursing. The following were the most often reported areas:
- Primary healthcare (including practice nursing).
- Surgical areas.
- Medical (including educating patients).
- Continuing care (elderly).
Enrolled nurses also reported interest in returning to work in many aspects of nursing. The most often reported were:
- Continuing care (elderly).
- Surgical.
- Obstetrics and maternity.
Geographical location of nurses who may return to work
There were registered nurses and midwives and enrolled nurses in every geographical region who indicated they would be interested in returning to clinical practice.
Copies of this report are free of charge and can be ordered from the Publications Officer, NZHIS, PO Box 5013, Wellington, phone (04) 496 2000, fax (04) 496 2340, e-mail nzhis-pub@nzhis.govt.nz.
Also available as a PDF file (99 kB) or as a Word file (209 kB).
The survey form is available as a PDF file (352 kB).
Published: 2000
34 pages, A4
ISBN: 0-478-23977-7 (print), 0-478-23978-5 (online)