Labour says it will guarantee a job in the public health system for every graduate nurse and increase the recruitment subsidy to address shortages in primary care.
The policy would boost the workforce by 350 over four years and cost $525 million, funded from the annual cost pressure increase, Labour's health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall said.
Verrall said graduate nurses were being trained in New Zealand but were looking overseas for their first job instead of starting their careers here.
Labour leaders speak to VUW masters of nursing students at the nursing unit after a promise that every graduate nurse will get a job. RNZ / Baz Macdonald
During Question Time earlier this month, the health minister admitted the net increase in Health New Zealand full-time equivalent nursing staff between the quarters ending March 2024 and March 2026 was 54.
Checkpoint has previously reported about a nursing graduate who had applied for more than 100 nursing jobs without any luck.
"Patients shouldn't be left waiting in soiled beds. Nurses and doctors shouldn't be forced to work in conditions they describe as an 'absolute nightmare' because they don't have the staffing they were promised," Verrall said.
"There aren't enough roles in the health system currently for our graduate nurses, and they are being forced overseas, so our policy stops that from happening."
The party's policy document explained the jobs would be offered through the existing Advanced Choice of Employment and primary care employment schemes.
The jobs would be offered at graduation, rather than being staggered throughout the year, and would be for at least 0.8 full-time equivalent.
RNZ / Baz Macdonald
Last month, Health New Zealand's national chief nurse Nadine Gray told Checkpoint it was offering 1800 roles, and while it was supporting all graduate registered nurses into employment, it may not happen immediately and it had never been able to employ every graduate nurse.
Labour estimated under its policy 2400 nurses who graduate a year would get a job offer.
Of the 350 additional nurses the policy provided for, Labour projected 200 would be in the hospital and 150 would work in general practice and aged care.
Labour leaders speak to VUW masters of nursing students at the nursing unit after a promise that every graduate nurse will get a job. RNZ / Baz Macdonald
In 2025, Labour said fewer than half of graduating nurses were initially offered jobs through the Advanced Choice of Employment scheme.
The party would also double the funding for graduate nursing roles in primary care, from $20,000 to $40,000 in rural areas, and $15,000 to $30,000 in urban areas.
"Graduate nurses have invested years in their training. They deserve certainty that there will be a job waiting for them when they qualify," Verrall said.
First-year Master's student Sam Robbins-Wyllie said while looking for work was a "next-year problem," the policy made her feel more relaxed, and would allow her to focus on her study instead of stressing about making contacts.
"It takes that weight off, especially with what we are seeing in the news of the 54 number, and that's just that's not enough. We have 30 in our class that would graduate next year and be eligible in the programme. So it is quite promising."
All up, the policy would cost $525 million, which Labour said would come out of "health cost-pressure funding".
Verrall said those cost pressures had not yet been allocated, and the new nurses should be a priority.
National's health spokesperson Simeon Brown said Health New Zealand already expected to take on more nursing graduates into hospital-based roles than in any of the past seven years.
"Labour's claim that it can fund this new health policy out of existing Health New Zealand funding is not credible. That money is already committed to meeting the demands of a growing and ageing population," he said.
-RNZ