“It is nationally recognised that a most pressing issue in health is the staffing crises befalling the health sector with a shortage of professional staff - nurses, doctors and allied health practitioners. A significant majority of staff recruitment processes are focused at the outcomes from tertiary education institutions.

Added to this recruitment concern is the recognized inequalities in comparing maori and pacific island staff to others and the ongoing retention issues for the various generations coming into the sector.”

(Extract From The Incubator)

This week I attended an IPANZ speech by Wynn Schollum on “The Incubator” – a new initiative from Hawke’s Bay District Health Board that aims to tackle the recruitment issues facing the health sector.

The Incubator was developed for secondary students “to nurture an interest in pursuing a career in the health sector”. It programme involves a range of innovative learning techniques, and brings the education sector to the health sector through mentoring and leadership.

I have to say it was really inspiring to see how the health sector was connecting with young people in order to address New Zealand’s future and current skill shortages. And I couldn’t help but see how transferable this approach would be if it came to other skill shortage areas.

For me the initiative highlighted the importance of connecting with students at this very early stage to both inspire them, and get them to start thinking about the many career choices that lie before them.

-Campbell Hepburn