Graduate nurses reported receiving job offers that were immediately retracted
Health New Zealand has apologised for a "human error" that saw nursing graduates receive job offers that were immediately retracted, according to reports.
Chris Lowry, Health New Zealand regional director Waikato, admitted that it was a mistake, and they are "really sorry" about what happened.
"We apologise to the nursing graduates involved and will be contacting them again to reassure them of our commitment to working on finding them placements," Lowry said as quoted by the New Zealand Herald.
"This was a human error, and we are sorry for the distress this has caused."
According to Lowry, affected nursing graduates appeared to be limited to the Waikato region.
These nursing graduates, reported to be a "large number," received a full-time job offer in their region that was immediately recalled five minutes later.
The graduates asked the Nurse Entry to Practice Programme about the job offer emails, which responded a week later that they were sent in error.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has expressed concerns over the incident.
"These graduates were offered employment - only to be confused by the sudden recall of those emails… It's completely unacceptable for people to have to go through this," said student nurse Shannyn Bristowe in a statement.
The job offer error comes amid reports that Health NZ missed its own deadline for placing graduate nurses into the hospital system, Radio New Zealand reported.
NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said 166 graduates still do not have offers of employment.
"This will be a stressful time for them and errors like this only add to the uncertainly they will be feeling," Goulter said. "It's really important that Te Whatu Ora get their processes right, do not make errors like this, and move quickly to secure the futures of all graduate nurses."
