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New Zealand Health Workforce Statistics 2004

Nurses and Midwives

Contents:

• Registered Nurses and Midwives
• Enrolled Nurses
• Midwives
• Direct-Entry Midwives

This page contains data about enrolled nurses and registered nurses (including midwives) who are active in the New Zealand nursing and midwifery workforce. In order for a nurse to be defined as active they must meet three criteria. These are that they:

• are included in one or more parts of the Register or Roll of Nurses (as defined by the Nurses Act 1977),
• hold a current annual practising certificate (APC), and
• have reported in the workforce survey that they are working in one or more types of nursing or midwifery (on a voluntary or paid basis) in New Zealand.

Nurses and midwives who were working on a part-time or casual basis are also defined as active and are therefore included in the data.

A workforce questionnaire accompanies the APC application form sent by the Nursing Council of New Zealand in March each year to nurses and midwives on the Register or Roll of Nurses. The 2004 nursing and midwifery workforce survey data provides statistical information about the active New Zealand registered nurses and midwives and enrolled nursing workforce in both the private and public sectors in New Zealand who purchased an APC between April and September 2004. (Please note that due to the introduction of the Health Practitioner Competency Assurance Act 2003, the data for 2004 was cut off on 18 September in 2004 instead of the usual 31 October.)

In 2004, a total of 47,558 nurses completed the questionnaire, and 38,484 registered nurses and midwives and enrolled nurses also met the criteria of an active nurse or midwife.

Active registered nurses and midwives and enrolled nurses working in nursing in New Zealand, 1994–2004.

Year	Active registered nurses & midwives		Active enrolled nurses
	Number	% change from previous year	Number	% change from previous year
2004	34,660	6.0	3824	–0.1
2003	32,687	–1.3	3827	–3.7
2002	33,124	0.1	3973	–6.0
2001	33,078	1.2	4225	–1.7
2000	32,676	1.4	4300	–5.7
1999	32,212	1.1	4558	–6.9
1998	31,869	9.3	4894	0.7
1997	29,154	–4.6	4862	–15.4
1996	30,553	4.0	5750	–9.3
1995	29,382	4.5	6340	–3.2
1994	28,122	4.9	6552	–1.1
Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2004.

Prioritised ethnicity of active nurses working in nursing and midwifery in New Zealand, 2004.

Ethnicity	Number	Percentage*
NZ European	26,267	68.3
Other European	3738	9.7
NZ Māori	2883	7.5
Samoan	356	0.9
Cook Island Maori	96	0.2
Tongan	170	0.4
Niuean	61	0.2
Tokelauan	66	0.2
Fijian	256	0.7
Other Pacific	114	0.3
South East Asian	579	1.5
Chinese	349	0.9
Indian	728	1.9
Other Asian	335	0.9
Other	2416	6.3
Not reported	70	0.2
Total	38,484	100.0
* Note: percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding errors. Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2004.

Registered Nurses and Midwives

A registered nurse is defined by the Nurses Act 1977 as a nurse whose name is recorded on one of the Registers of Nurses. A midwife may be a registered general and obstetric or comprehensive nurse who has undertaken further education to gain midwifery qualifications, or a graduate of a direct-entry midwifery course. (Direct-entry midwives may have graduated in another country before 1995 and subsequently gained New Zealand registration.)

In 2004 there were 34,660 active registered nurses and midwives working in nursing and midwifery in New Zealand. This includes 196 midwives who gained a direct-entry midwifery qualification.

Age and sex distribution of active registered nurses and midwives working in nursing and midwifery in New Zealand, 2004.

Age group	Males		Females		Not reported		Total
	Number	%*	Number	%*	Number	%*	Number	%*
Under 20	1	0.0	23	0.1	2	0.0	26	0.1
20–24	37	0.1	1027	3.0	3	0.0	1067	3.1
25–29	143	0.4	2250	6.5	27	0.1	2420	7.0
30–34	313	0.9	3737	10.8	166	0.5	4216	12.2
35–39	358	1.0	4195	12.1	179	0.5	4732	13.7
40–44	406	1.2	5521	15.9	203	0.6	6130	17.7
45–49	455	1.3	5510	15.9	165	0.5	6130	17.7
50–54	266	0.8	3871	11.2	100	0.3	4237	12.2
55–59	136	0.4	2982	8.6	69	0.2	3187	9.2
60+	85	0.2	2174	6.3	42	0.1	2301	6.6
Not reported	5	0.0	207	0.6	2	0.0	214	0.6
Total	2205	6.4	31,497	90.9	958	2.8	34,660	100.0
* Note: percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding errors. Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2004.

Number of active registered nurses and midwives working in nursing and midwifery in New Zealand by work type, numbers, 2004.

Work type	Number	Percentage
Accident and emergency	1363	3.9
Assessment and rehabilitation	1031	3.0
Child health, including neonatology	1859	5.4
Continuing care (elderly)	3091	8.9
District nursing	918	2.6
Family planning/sexual health	135	0.4
Intellectually disabled	243	0.7
Intensive care/coronary care	1441	4.2
Medical (including educating patients)	2679	7.7
Mental health (including substance abuse)	3052	8.8
Midwifery – administration and management	60	0.2
Midwifery – case load	930	2.7
Midwifery – core facility	1186	3.4
Midwifery – education	80	0.2
Midwifery – professional advice/policy development	14	0.0
Midwifery – research	12	0.0
Nursing – administration and management	1238	3.6
Nursing – education	809	2.3
Nursing – professional advice/policy development	172	0.5
Nursing – research	124	0.4
Obstetrics/maternity	250	0.7
Occupational health	323	0.9
Other nursing	3416	9.9
Palliative care	589	1.7
Perioperative care (theatre)	1949	5.6
Primary healthcare (including practice nursing)	3672	10.6
Public health	503	1.5
Surgical	3521	10.2
Total	34,660	100.0
Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2004.

Geographic distribution (per 100,000 population) of active registered nurses and midwives working in nursing and midwifery in New Zealand, 2004.
Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand 2004. Rates have been calculated using the estimated resident population as at 30 June 2004.

Hours worked by active registered nurses and midwives working in nursing and midwifery in New Zealand, 2004.

Hours	Number	Percentage*
1–8	1250	3.6
9–16	3314	9.6
17–24	5564	16.1
25–32	6539	18.9
33–40	16,025	46.2
>40	1440	4.2
Not reported	528	1.5
Total	34,660	100.0
* Note: percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding errors. Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2004.

Enrolled Nurses

An enrolled nurse is defined in the Nurses Act 1977 as a nurse whose name is recorded on the Roll of Nurses. Legislation restricts the scope of practice for enrolled nurses, requiring them to practise under the supervision of a registered nurse or medical practitioner. Up until recently there had been no enrolled nursing education programmes offered in New Zealand since 1993. In 2004 there were 3824 active enrolled nurses in New Zealand.

Age and sex distribution of active enrolled nurses working in nursing in New Zealand, 2004.

Age group	Males		Females		Not reported		Total
	Number	%*	Number	%*	Number	%*	Number	%*
Under 20	0	0.0	1	0.0	0	0.0	1	0.0
20–24	0	0.0	2	0.1	0	0.0	2	0.1
25–29	0	0.0	7	0.2	0	0.0	7	0.2
30–34	7	0.2	53	1.4	5	0.1	65	1.7
35–39	9	0.2	255	6.7	10	0.3	274	7.2
40–44	31	0.8	784	20.5	23	0.6	838	21.9
45–49	29	0.8	999	26.1	31	0.8	1059	27.7
50–54	24	0.6	876	22.9	21	0.5	921	24.1
55–59	13	0.3	370	9.7	11	0.3	394	10.3
60+	7	0.2	183	4.8	4	0.1	194	5.1
Not reported	0	0.0	69	1.8	0	0.0	69	1.8
Total	120	3.1	3599	94.1	105	2.7	3824	100.0
* Note: percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding errors. Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2004.

Number of active enrolled nurses working in nursing in New Zealand by work type, numbers, 2004.

Work type	Number	Percentage*
Accident and emergency	19	0.5
Assessment and rehabilitation	375	9.8
Child health, including neonatology	81	2.1
Continuing care (elderly)	1100	28.8
District nursing	123	3.2
Family planning/sexual health	3	0.1
Intellectually disabled	120	3.1
Intensive care/coronary care	3	0.1
Medical (including educating patients)	276	7.2
Mental health (including substance abuse)	259	6.8
Nursing – administration and management	55	1.4
Nursing – education	15	0.4
Nursing – professional advice/policy development	2	0.1
Nursing – research	8	0.2
Obstetrics/maternity	112	2.9
Occupational health	32	0.8
Other nursing	526	13.8
Palliative care	107	2.8
Perioperative care	191	5.0
Primary healthcare (including practice nursing)	90	2.4
Public health	22	0.6
Surgical	305	8.0
Total	3824	100.0
* Note: percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding errors. Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2004.

Area health board (per 100,000 population) of active enrolled nurses working in nursing in New Zealand, 2004.
Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand 2004. Rates have been calculated using the estimated resident population as at 30 June 2004.

Hours worked by active enrolled nurses working in nursing in New Zealand, 2004.

Hours	Number	Percentage
1–8	110	2.9
9–16	383	10.0
17–24	741	19.4
25–32	968	25.3
33–40	1439	37.6
>40	98	2.6
Not reported	85	2.2
Total	3824	100.0
Source: Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2004.

Midwives

Nurses in the workforce are classified as midwives because of their qualifications. They need not be working as a midwife to be included in this section. Nurses with midwifery qualifications are also included in the section on Registered Nurses and Midwives, but the data for them is broken down further in this section.

There were 3780 nurses who held midwifery qualifications in 2004 and met the criteria of an active nurse or midwife. Included in the 3780 were 196 midwives who gained their midwifery qualifications from a direct-entry course.

Age and sex distribution of active nurses with midwifery qualifications working in nursing and midwifery in New Zealand, 2004.

Age group	Males		Females		Not reported		Total
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
20–24	0	0.0	17	0.4	0	0.0	17	0.4
25–29	0	0.0	93	2.5	2	0.1	95	2.5
30–34	1	0.0	247	6.5	3	0.1	251	6.6
35–39	1	0.0	417	11.0	10	0.3	428	11.3
40–44	2	0.1	574	15.2	19	0.5	595	15.7
45–49	1	0.0	695	18.4	16	0.4	712	18.8
50–54	5	0.1	593	15.7	14	0.4	612	16.2
55–59	1	0.0	570	15.1	12	0.3	583	15.4
60+	0	0.0	447	11.8	9	0.2	456	12.1
Not reported	0	0.0	30	0.8	1	0.0	31	0.8
Total