Smart people, especially nurses, say we need to work on our culture. We can’t compete with Australian money, but we can on workplace culture – where people feel respected, and able to work at their full scope. This we can achieve. 22/26

(Sidenote: yep, Brexit. Before 2016/17 the NHS relied on EU nurses. After Brexit, this source disappeared and increasingly unscrupulous NHS recruiters turned in many cases to countries on the WHO “red list” – countries with domestic workforce shortages. Africa, Pacific.)

The majority of these nurses putting their documents together to get to Australia are internationally qualified. There is a flow of nurses from the Global South to the UK NHS, then to Aotearoa, then right on to Australia in search of better conditions. It’s hopscotch. 21/26

And many of our new nurses are not staying. Australian data show large increases in ANZ nurses granted registration in Australia in the last two years. Nearly tripling in 2022/23. 20/26

But they aren’t coming directly from India – it appears the vast majority are leaving terrible conditions in the NHS. 19/26

Where did they come from? (And importantly, for later, where do they go?) Data show the majority of new IQNs entering ANZ are originally trained in India, *not* the Philippines as once used to be the case. 18/26

However, in 2022/2023, the numbers of internationally qualified nurses (IQNs) entering Aotearoa suddenly soared after our borders opened. 17/26

Our nursing workforce was second only to Ireland in being overseas-trained in 2021 (I don’t like the OECD’s “foreign” here but that’s what they use). We rely on sources abroad. 16/26

Part 3: this is some really innovative stuff. 1: nurses coming into NZ. In 2021/2022 the NZNO was screaming for more nurses – critical shortages everywhere. We already had an incredibly unrepresentative nursing workforce. 15/26

Because of our deteriorating patient programme, led by @psirides' hard, hard work, you’re less likely to get a cardiac arrest in hospital, and more likely to meet a friendly rapid response team with a trolley if your vitals decline. 9/26